WASHINGTON— U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) issued the following statement about the budget amendment on importing prescription drugs: 

"I voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010, and have worked to strengthen and preserve ACA since then in the effort to extend health insurance coverage to millions of Americans, including nearly a million people in Virginia.

"I also have worked with many of my colleagues to bring more transparency and competition in an effort to lower prescription drug prices, and I strongly support allowing the federal government – a significant purchaser of prescription drugs – to negotiate better prices for consumers.

"Earlier this month, in a series of votes on amendments to a Republican proposal to begin dismantling the Affordable Care Act (which every Democrat, including me, opposed and voted against), I voted no on a messaging amendment to allow Americans to purchase prescription drugs from Canada. In my view, there was not sufficient discussion about whether this amendment provided sufficient safeguards for patients, and it also failed to address the underlying causes of higher drug prices in America.

"As I have said to a number of Virginians who have asked me about this vote, we are the only major government in the world that does not leverage its purchasing power to negotiate prescription drug prices. While there is not one solution to address the troubling rise in prescription drugs, I believe allowing the government to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies under Medicare Part D – like many other countries already do – is one specific action we can take now to lower drug prices across the entire healthcare system. I believe this could be part of a broader strategy to encourage innovation while doing more to ensure that patients can affordably access the medications they rely on, and I pledge to continue working with my colleagues on a comprehensive approach to lower prescription drug costs."

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