I am writing to urge support from the American people and lawmakers for the national-level bill House Resolution 3, which would allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prices.

Five years ago, I went from a relatively healthy 30-year-old to very sick and unable to work in just a few months. I have multiple chronic conditions for which I take over 30 medications.

While I receive SSDI, I still have to work part time from home to make ends meet. I am on Medicaid through a buy-in program. However, before Medicaid, I drained my retirement savings, paying upwards of $1,000 per month, after insurance, for medications alone. High drug costs are the reason that many on Medicaid cannot get married, because marriage would count spousal income and cause them to lose the only means they have of affording drugs (often a low-income subsidy through qualifying for Medicaid).

Ending the pharmaceutical industry’s monopoly control over drug pricing is long overdue, especially when pharmaceutical corporations continue to be the most profitable sector in the nation. I expect Congress to live up to their promise to “Build Back Better” and allow negotiation that could lower the price of prescription drugs.

Kaitlin A. Kerr

Pleasant Hills

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