Washington health care advocates will hold a rally at the Jackson Federal Building in Seattle calling on Congress and the Trump Administration to take on big pharmaceutical companies with bold legislative action to lower drug prices rather than more tweaks, half-measures and promises. Activists will demand a comprehensive plan to hold drug makers accountable, end drug monopolies and guarantee all patients can get affordable medicines they need.
Constituents will also urge lawmakers to vote no on the revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal that President Trump signed last year unless terms locking in high U.S. medicine prices are eliminated.
This event is part of the “People Over Phrama Profits” National Day of Action with thousands of activists across the country demanding President Trump and Congress hold prescription drug corporations accountable.
What: Rally calling on President Trump and Congress to lower drug prices
When: 12 pm, Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Where: Jackson Federal Building, 2nd Avenue Plaza, Seattle
Who: Health care advocates from Washington CAN, PSARA, Health Care is a Human Right coalition, Health Care for All Washington, Physicians for a National Health Program
Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 deal includes new monopoly powers for pharmaceutical corporations so they can charge more in the United States, Canada and Mexico. After failing to deliver on his 2016 campaign promise to bring down medicine prices, Trump’s new NAFTA could raise some drug prices here and undermine Trump’s recently announced proposal to import cheaper drugs from Canada.
U.S prescription drug prices jumped 10.5 percent over in just the first six months of 2019–the increase is four times faster than inflation. These increases are not just for specialty drugs: the cost of the four most popular types of insulin tripled over the past decade. This kind of price gouging kills patients. When people cannot afford medicine, they are often forced to make the painful choice to not take it–turning a routine illness into a life-threatening condition.
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