"We're going to end the days when drug companies could increase the prices with no oversight and no accountability," Biden said on Monday. "Going forward, drug companies that increase the prices faster than inflation are going to face a steep excise tax."
Biden lamented that Americans pay two or three times more than citizens of other countries for the same prescription drugs manufactured by US pharmaceutical firms.
"These price increases are about companies looking to maximize profits, and nobody is standing up for the patients," Biden said. "Nobody has held the manufacturers accountable until now. Shame on us as a nation if we can’t do better than this. Everyone has less money in their pockets because high drug costs make health insurance more expensive for everyone."
Most Americans say they overpay for prescription drugs, with nearly three in ten reporting they go without medications because of the high cost. Research also shows that most Americans value the high levels of innovation undertaken by the pharmaceutical industry, which often leads the world in finding universally-applicable vaccines, therapeutics and other solutions for illnesses and diseases.
Pharmaceutical industry advocates argue that a significant portion of the relatively large profits generated in the industry go toward financing innovations in the business and lowering prices will effectively drive down research and development that goes into making new drugs.