Mainers are being squeezed by rising healthcare costs. Nowhere is this more obvious than the sky-rocketing costs of prescription medication.
When budgets are stretched, the first form of care that people are often forced to sacrifice is their prescription medication – even though medication is a critical part of care for many families.
Nearly 1 in 5 Mainers have gone without prescribed medication due to the cost at some point. Some families are forced to ration life-saving medication. Others have to forgo them entirely.
Meanwhile, Big Pharma keeps hiking up their prices, purely for the sake of profit. According to the AARP, prescription drug costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation. There is no justification for this – especially when the cost of prescription medication in the United States is already over 2.5 times higher than in other developed countries.
Thousands of Mainers, young and old, rely on medication to live safe and healthy lives. We can’t let the greed of Big Pharma go unchecked.
The Maine Senate just passed two separate bills (LD 1117 and LD 675) that would protect Mainers from the price-gouging of prescription drugs, and prevent big drug companies from increasing their prices without legitimate justification. These bills now go to the House for a vote.
No one should have to choose between putting food on the table or affording their prescribed medication. Add your name to our petition to tell the Legislature: Every Mainer should be able to afford their prescription medication.