Medicare Drug Price Negotiations with (Margarida Jorge)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most opaque industries in America, and they take advantage of this lack of transparency by setting ever-higher prices for lifesaving prescription drugs like insulin. But provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act are curtailing the exorbitant price-gouging strategies that the pharmaceutical industry uses to pump up their profit margins at the expense of seniors and people with disabilities who use Medicare. This week, we’re talking to Margarida Jorge, the Executive Director of Health Care for America Now, to help us understand more about drug pricing and the impact that drug price negotiations will have on Medicare and its recipients.

We apologize for the background noise you hear during this episode. We strive to provide you with the best possible audio quality, but sometimes external factors (like construction nearby) are beyond our control.

Margarida Jorge is the Executive Director of Health Care for America Now. She has been a prominent advocate for affordable and accessible healthcare for three decades, and she was the chief architect of the 47-state field program that helped win the Affordable Care Act under President Obama. Margarida has played a key role in shaping healthcare policy and has been instrumental in shaping policy discussions, advocating for reforms that prioritize the needs of patients over the profits of pharmaceutical companies, lowering drug prices, and ensuring access to life-saving medications for all.

Twitter: @MargaridaJorg17

Health Care for America Now: https://www.healthcareforamericanow.org

Lower Drug Prices Now: https://www.lowerdrugpricesnow.org

Explaining the Prescription Drug Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act: https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/explaining-the-prescription-drug-provisions-in-the-inflation-reduction-act/#bullet01

Big Drug Companies Are in Court to Stop Medicare Negotiation and Protect Their Sky-High Profits: https://www.protectourcare.org/big-drug-companies-are-in-court-to-stop-medicare-negotiation-and-protect-their-sky-high-profits

How Prices for the First 10 Drugs Up for U.S. Medicare Price Negotiations Compare Internationally: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2024/jan/how-prices-first-10-drugs-medicare-negotiations-compare-internationally

Drug Companies Continue To Hike Prices Above Inflation: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/drug-companies-continue-to-hike-prices-above-inflation

U.S. Prescription Drug Prices Are 2.56 Times Those in Other Countries: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2956.html

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