Congressman Peter Welch has joined forces with a Missouri Republican to launch a new effort to lower prescription drug prices.
Welch and Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri say the Congressional Affordable Medicines Caucus will pursue legislation to increase the use of generic, rather than brand name, prescription drugs.
They say that if Medicaid generic medication use was increased by just one percentage point, Medicaid would save $682 million in one year. If generic drug use was increased by five percentage points, $3.4 billion would be saved.
Welch and Emerson, who launched the caucus Thursday, say they’ll be recruiting members in the coming weeks.