Congresswoman for Iowa’s 3rd District, Cindy Axne (D), rebutted some of the statements made by President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address Tuesday.

Trump stated that 2018 showed drug prices having the largest decline in 46 years. Axne said his statement was a little surprising, given her experiences talking with rural healthcare providers last week in Dallas and Guthrie counties.

Axne says she wants to work with Republicans and the President on lowering prescription drug costs, “It is one of the biggest issues that our communities are facing, so what the president said was directly opposite of what I hear on my trips. Certainly from a personal experience it’s something that I know that my family doesn’t experience either. So that I think needed a little fact- checking, because certainly the cost of prescription drugs is way too high and that’s something that we need to address.”

Trump’s statement referred to a .6% reduction in prices in December 2018 as compared to December 2017 from the Consumer Price Index. However, that index showed a 1.6% increase in prices for 2018 overall. To hear more from Axne, listen to our monthly Let’s Talk interview program with her online at raccoonvalleyradio.com.