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Last month, Republicans and Democrats in Congress came together to announce a historic bipartisan deal on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.  For months, members on both sides of the aisle worked together to negotiate a compromise that will improve the lives of Americans all across the country. As the drama unfolded, we all saw what can happen when congressional leaders are determined. We now need Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to make lowering prescription drug prices a top priority.  (Sean Shaw, 7/19)

One of the heartbreaking realities of the United States health care system is that sick people must pay exorbitant amounts of money to obtain life-saving medication. We have heard countless tragedies of people losing their lives solely because they couldn’t pay for prescriptions. These stories have led to progressives calling on the federal government to be the sole negotiator of drug prices to lower them — a policy that must be a priority for Congress. (Shahab Khan, 7/19)

Since the Lower Drug Costs Now Act was first introduced three years ago, the pharmaceutical industry has spent billions of dollars on lobbyists to persuade my colleagues to vote against it. For decades, this industry and its allies have worked overtime to stop any legislative action that could take away drug corporations' unlimited power to price-gouge patients and inflate their profits. (U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, 7/15)

Americans should be deeply concerned about our “sick-care” health system. We wait until people fall seriously ill, and then we apply rescue care. But we don’t provide the average American with the highest quality care at the early stages of a disease. Instead, the system is designed to withhold the best medicines, medical devices, and operations until their health deteriorates, and then belatedly, rescue care is offered. It’s a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to clinical care that puts patients at risk. There’s a far better alternative. (Gary Puckrein, 7/19)