Description: Rising drug prices continue to be a top concern for Americans. In response, members of Congress are floating multiple recycled ideas that revolve around price controls. In this episode, Dr. Robert Popovian, the Founder of the strategic consulting firm Conquest Advisors, Senior Health Policy Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, and previously the Vice […]
Consumer Tips / Health
ACI Sends a Letter to Senate and House Leadership: HR3 Will Create Drug Shortages
Dear Senate Majority Leader Schumer, House Speaker Pelosi, Senate Republican Leader McConnell, and House Republican Leader McCarthy: As you tackle prescription drug affordability, we urge Congress to remove any international reference pricing proposals out of drug pricing reform legislation. Failure to do so will have the opposite effect of rising healthcare costs for Americans and […]
Coalition Letter Opposes Price Regulation of Lower Priced Generic Drugs
Dear Members of the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services: As state and national organizations representing a wide range of U.S. taxpayers and consumers, we write today in opposition to LD 1117, Maine’s Act To Prevent Excessive Prices for Prescription Drugs, which seeks to impose pricing constraints on generic drug manufacturers. While working […]
Preemptions on E-Cigarettes Improve Consumer Health
This January, South Carolina became the most recent state to propose imposing preemptive legislation that would prohibit local municipalities from enforcing flavor bans and restricting the sale of electronic cigarettes. The proposal to introduce a preemption on electronic cigarettes products came after the Myrtle Beach city council banned the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes along […]
Want Lower Drug Costs? Increase Generic Competition
The list price of prescription drugs has already risen this year an average of 4.5%, with most of the increases coming from drugs that do not have a generic alternative. These price increases impose a greater burden on the 25% of Americans who already struggle to afford their medicines. The Kaiser Family Foundation found in […]
OECD Minimum Tax Rate Hurts the U.S. Economy
Last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced its two-pillar proposal to pursue the goals of transferring tax rights between nations, targeting profits of larger companies and multinational corporations, and instituting a cross-border minimum tax rate. The G-20 is gearing up for a meeting to discuss the first pillar of placing a […]
It’s Time to Reform Free-Standing Emergency Rooms
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control, there were 130 million visits to emergency departments in 2020. Despite the significant number of visits to emergency rooms, not all visits occurred at traditional emergency departments, but rather at free-standing emergency departments not physically connected to a hospital. Between 2008 and 2016, the number of […]
Illicit Tobacco Trade Networks Could Be Contributing To Ongoing Pandemic PPE Fraud
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a dramatic increase in counterfeit products and fraudulent retail transactions across the globe. In business-to-business markets, employers are getting scammed by fraudsters who successfully peddle counterfeit PPE equipment and face masks. Entire hospitals and medical facilities were duped into purchasing sub-par PPE, among other similar scenarios that impact consumers of […]
Morning Consult: Reduced Rivalry in Mortgage Lending Will Cost Consumers
The leading wholesale mortgage lender as announced an ultimatum calling on independent brokers to be exclusive and not use other lenders. By forcing independent brokers to limit the options available to them, this ultimatum undermines the very principle on which the broker channel exists — shopping to find consumers the best rates and terms. This […]
ACI on USPS’ Proposal to Restrict the Mailing of E-Cigarettes
Today, ACI filed comments with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in regard to a proposed prohibition on the mailing of vaping and e-cigarette products. In the filing, ACI pointed to the fact that, compared to tobacco products, the rule would deny consumers access to less harmful products — products that have been shown to […]