{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=366", "Bacon Announces Co-Sponsorship for H.R. 19 Which Would Lower Prescription Drug Prices", "2019-12-12", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "NE", "Don Bacon", "B001298", "bacon.house.gov", "bacon", "https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) today announced that he had signed on to cosponsor H.R. 19, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act, which would lower costs at the drug counter for patients and seniors.\n\n\u201cThese bipartisan reforms would lower out of pocket spending without crushing investment in the research and development of new cures,\u201d said Rep. Bacon. \u201cWe need to strengthen transparency and champion competition, and not crush the innovation of possibly groundbreaking new cures for illnesses such as Alzheimer\u2019s, Sickle Cell, Cancer or ALS.\u201d\n\nH.R. 19 will:\n\nCap seniors\u2019 out-of-pocket yearly costs at $3100, and also place a monthly cap for Medicare beneficiaries by spreading out the amount a patient owes throughout the year, to help better manage budgets for those living on a fixed income\n\nRequire that information about drug costs be made available by insurance companies in the doctor\u2019s office before a prescription is written\n\nBring more generic and biosimilar competition to the marketplace, increasing low-cost options\n\nCreate stronger trade agreements and real enforcement mechanisms to ensure developed countries aren\u2019t unfairly benefitting from American medical innovation and paying lower prescription drug prices.\n\nWhile this bill will provide many benefits, the Congressional Budget Office says Speaker Pelosi\u2019s bill, H.R. 3, will limit cures and innovation.\n\n\u201cThe CBO says that on the low end, 15 fewer cures could be developed if her bill passes because it could severely limit the ability of biopharmaceutical research to invest in future advancements ion biomedical innovations,\u201d said Rep. Bacon. \u201cOne cure lost is too many and we simply cannot crush the hopes of patients who have been patiently waiting for that next breakthrough.\u201d\n\nIn addition, the Congressional Research Services cautions that provisions limiting drug prices in H.R. 3 could run afoul of the Fifth Amendment\u2019s takings clause as well as the Eighth Amendment\u2019s excessive fines clause.\n\n\u201cWe need to pass legislation that will help control costs of prescription drugs so that seniors and consumers don\u2019t have to break open the piggy bank, while also ensuring our biomedical research teams and companies aren\u2019t constrained by lack of funds to find that next cure for someone\u2019s loved one,\u201d added Rep. Bacon.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bacon.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=366"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0129339061677456, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}