Statement of Chester “Chip” Davis Jr., President and CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines on the Confirmation of Seema Verma as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:
WASHINGTON, DC (March 13, 2017) – “We congratulate Seema Verma on her confirmation by the U.S. Senate to be the next Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We look forward to working with her and the Trump Administration to maintain and encourage a healthy and competitive generic pharmaceutical industry in the U.S.
“Generic drugs are the foundation of any successful effort to lower health spending and increase patient access to affordable medicine. Indeed, generic medicines have saved Americans and taxpayers $1.46 trillion over the past ten years.
“Moreover, as we work together to preserve and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid, we will be sure to offer our policy ideas on how generic medicines can continue to provide massive savings to each critical program. Last year alone, generic medicines saved Medicare $67.6 billion, which translates to a savings of $1,737 per enrollee. For Medicaid, the savings were $32.7 billion, which translates to a savings of $450 per enrollee.
“So on behalf of the tens of thousands of American men and women who develop, manufacture and distribute generic prescription drugs, bulk active pharmaceutical chemicals, and suppliers of other goods and services to the generic industry, we stand ready to work with the President, Ms. Verma and her entire health care team to ensure that generic medicines continue to keep lifesaving treatments within reach of all Americans.”
CONTACT:
Rachel Schwartz
202.249.7147 (o)
202.251.8881 (c)
or Accessible Medicines
AAM is driven by the belief that access to safe, quality, effective medicine has a tremendous impact on a person’s life and the world around them. Generic and biosimilar medicines improve people’s lives, improving society and the economy in turn. AAM represents the manufacturers and distributors of finished generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars, manufacturers and distributors of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals, and suppliers of other goods and services to the generic industry. Generic pharmaceuticals are 89 percent of prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. but only 27 percent of total drug spending. Additional information is available at www.accessiblemeds.org.