Many people in the US struggle to pay for their prescription #drugs that are needed to help keep them alive. Paying for high-priced drugs in unsustainable, therefore government action to help cut the cost of medications.

In 2019, Nancy Pelosi proposed a plan which would regulate prices on life-saving drugs. Pelosi's legislation seeks to direct the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate a fair price with manufacturers. Companies that refuse to negotiate would be charged a 65% excise tax on its annual gross sales that would increase by 10% every quarter.

Price controls are necessary for the American market. Almost 30% of prescriptions go unfilled every year, making this one of the top 10 causes of death in the country. Regulating prices of life-saving drugs may also be the best way to balance U.S. drug prices with other countries' prices. Pharmaceuticals around most of the countries in the world are two to six times lower than the U.S. Simply put, Americans pay more for drugs than other people in other wealthy countries...and that is unfair. If the U.S. sets up an agency that negotiates drug prices on behalf of the country's citizens, it would put on par with rest of the world. This would also result in a reduction in health insurance premiums.

If the U.S. starts to control drug prices, medication will become cheaper. Many Americans depending on life-saving drugs will have more access to them, resulting in saving more lives. Although price regulations for drugs, according to critics of price regulations, may lead to a decline in research and development of new drugs, we might decide to trade a certain level of innovation to lower the drug prices and make medication more financially accessible to those who need them. Innovation in the drug industry is incredible, but there is a disconnect between the prices charged for drugs and their health benefits. High prices for life-saving drugs means the drugs are not accessible to everyone.

The thought that people actually die because they cannot afford the medication that will save them is appalling, and we should do something to address this issue. Price regulation is an effective first step.