Congresswoman for Iowa’s Third District Cindy Axne recently announced her cosponsorship of a bill to help Iowans afford high-quality healthcare.

House Resolution 3, or the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, would allow Medicare to negotiate a minimum of 35 of the most expensive drugs every year, and extend the negotiated price to consumers. It would also create a cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, limit the maximum prices drug companies can charge, and invest in research into more innovative, affordable cures and treatments.

Axne says that Americans currently spend three to four times more on pharmaceuticals than any other advanced country, “What this bill does is (it) allows the health and human services secretary to finally be able to negotiate drug prices, and it creates an international price index. So companies can no longer charge Americans more than other countries pay for the same drugs, because right now we pay more in America for drugs made here in this country than so many other countries that we sell those drugs to.”

Axne adds, this bill is estimated to save the federal budget more than $345 billion over seven years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. You can hear more from Axne during today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program on air and at raccoonvalleyradio.com.