Let the Free Market Work for Patients

As a conservative Montanan, I believe the government should stop interfering in the healthcare market—especially when it comes to prescription drug development.

That’s why I’m concerned about a policy buried in the Inflation Reduction Act called the “pill penalty.” It puts strict price controls on pill-form medications years before it does the same for injectables, giving drug makers less time to recoup their investments. That’s not only unfair—it’s bad for innovation.

Pill-form treatments are often the most convenient and accessible option for patients. But under this law, future investment in those kinds of drugs will dry up. That means fewer pills and tablets developed in the years to come—and fewer treatment choices for all of us.

If Congress is serious about reducing drug costs, they should focus on the real cost drivers like hospital markups and middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers—not by punishing companies that develop pills people rely on.

The EPIC Act is a common-sense fix to the pill penalty. I hope Senator Daines, Representative Zinke (or Downing), and the rest of Montana’s delegation get behind it. The last thing we need is for government overreach to make it harder to get the medications we prefer.