Much Work Remains for Congress: Plan Leaves Out Crucial Drug Cost Reform and Paid Family Leave

CONCORD, NH – Today, Congress reached an agreement on the framework of President Biden’s Build Back Better package. In response to this new deal, Zandra Rice Hawkins, Executive Director of Granite State Progress, released the following statement:

“There is a lot to celebrate with the Build Back Better package. With this plan, we will expand access to affordable healthcare for millions of Americans by closing the Medicaid coverage gap, extending the premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, and expanding Medicare coverage to include hearing. In addition to this progress in covering more Americans, this plan also takes meaningful steps to make our tax system fairer by closing tax loopholes and ending special breaks for the nation’s wealthiest families and most profitable corporations, raising $1.9 trillion in revenue in the process. The plan’s tax reforms more than recover from the rich and corporations what they were gifted by the Trump-GOP tax giveaway four years ago. By shutting down accounting maneuvers and other tax-dodging schemes of wealthy households and big corporations, the Biden reforms begin to unify into a single tax code what’s become a dual system of mandatory taxes for working people and voluntary payments by the rich. These long overdue changes to our tax code will fund tremendous investments while not adding a penny to our national debt.”

“However, we are very disappointed to see that crucial reforms such as empowering Medicare to negotiate drug costs and extend those cost savings to Granite Staters, and paid family and medical leave which would have helped so many working families, did not end up in this framework. We can’t build back better without limiting drug corporations’ monopoly power to set and keep prices high. We also can’t build back better if we leave families behind. Congress needs to stop protecting the Pharma profits and Big Business and amend this proposal to include lowering drug prices and mandatory paid family and medical leave.”

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Granite State Progress is a progressive advocacy organization that addresses issues of immediate state and local concern. Granite State Progress works as a communications hub for the progressive community to provide a strong, credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems. Visit https://granitestateprogress.org/ to learn more.