Senator Tillis and President Trump “both have opposed certain pieces of legislation that could have lowered the price of insulin and other prescription drugs,” the fact check confirms, specifically pointing to a bipartisan measure focused on “decreasing out-of-pocket costs for people on Medicare and putting an inflation-based cap on some drug prices” that Tillis opposed.
In a desperate attempt to paper over his record, Senator Tillis offered a sham alternative bill that experts have continued to expose, finding it “weaker than other options” and noting it “doesn’t include an inflation cap” and would leave out “the more than 150 million Americans covered by private insurance.” As one expert said, Senator Tillis’ bill “has no chance of going anywhere, and he knows that. But it’s a way of trying to deflect that criticism without getting a lot accomplished.”
Senator Tillis has stood against meaningful efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs because he’s bought and paid for by Big Pharma. Senator Tillis “accepted more than $20,000 in campaign contributions from political action committees tied to pharmaceutical companies within two weeks of sponsoring” his sham drug pricing bill, according to an investigation from WBTV. In total, Senator Tillis has taken more than $400,000 in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical and health product industries.
“Senator Tillis is bought and paid for by Big Pharma, raking in campaign contributions while keeping the price of insulin and prescription drugs high,” NCDP spokesperson Robert Howard said. “At every step of the way, Senator Tillis has caved into his big corporate backers rather than stand up for what’s right for North Carolinians struggling with the price of health care.”