Diverse Community Business Coalition Urges Congress to Advance Bipartisan Solutions to Lower Healthcare Costs

By SBE Council at 13 September, 2021, 2:51 pm

Dear Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy:

On behalf of the nation’s leading business organizations representing diverse communities, we know healthcare costs are a key issue for the constituencies we represent. That is why we are writing to share some insights as it relates to the development of your work on drug-pricing reform legislation including H.R. 3.

Several of our organizations have seen the importance of America’s biotech industry and we want to make sure that any steps taken would not lead to job loss or discourage the research that produces lifesaving treatments for patients. Perhaps most importantly, that it won’t impact the diverse and minority businesses we represent.

Right now, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry supports over 4 million jobs across the country. That includes more than 800,000 direct industry jobs along with 3.2 million indirect or induced jobs.^[1] We need to find a way to reduce healthcare costs and make sure companies recoup their investments, so they don’t scale back research spending and lay off workers. It is important for these companies and innovators to recoup their investments. If they can’t, this could leave firms with no choice but to scale back research spending and lay off workers.

Potential downstream reduction of investment could have devastating impacts throughout the supply chain, especially for those small and diverse businesses that provide goods and services to the pharmaceutical sector. Additionally, the industry’s direct employees support the businesses, shops, and restaurants in their communities. Without their revenue, diverse owned and operated small businesses would be hit especially hard.

Scientists are on the cusp of discovering treatments for a host of horrible afflictions — from cancer to Alzheimer’s to HIV. Mere days ago, researchers announced the successful completion of a phase I clinical trial that could result in an HIV vaccine.^[2] We want to make sure we benefit from these countless treatments critical to the health and wellness of our communities and businesses alike, so we want to ensure we find policies that work for consumers, businesses, and industry.

Recently, lawmakers called for more modest, bipartisan drug pricing reforms that would “preserve our invaluable innovation ecosystem.” The Members noted “America benefits from the most innovative and capable researchers in the world, and from public-private partnership that encourages world-leading biomedical research and development” while also citing, “access to and affordability of healthcare continue to be top of mind for families in our districts and across the country.” We join these policymakers in their belief that “stakeholders across the health care system each bear responsibility to improve costs for patients and their families.” We share the same strong interest in working collaboratively in a bipartisan manner to develop healthcare policies that will, as the letter states, “ensure that patients are able to afford their medicine at the pharmacy counter, and to enhance the United States’ innovation ecosystem that delivers treatments and cures when we need them most…” And we echo the letter’s direction to “determine ways to better serve patients in an efficient and affordable fashion with an eye toward improving health equity.”

Solutions to rising healthcare costs remain paramount for our organizations and the diverse owned businesses we represent. We want to also encourage lawmakers to recognize that there are a multitude of tactics they should consider to reduce the cost of healthcare on America’s job creators including lawmakers should pursue policies which improve transparency, affordability, and accessibility to comprehensive care and coverage options to meet the needs of patients.

As organizations dedicated to expanding economic opportunities and advancement for diverse and minority communities, we urge you take a balanced approach to consumers, small business, and the pharmaceutical industry to ensure we arrive at a bipartisan solution that will ensure our nation’s recovery from COVID-19 and corresponding economic crisis is equitable and inclusive of all workers and business owners.

Sincerely,

Candace Waterman, President and CEO, Women Impacting Public Policy

Justin Nelson, President & Co-Founder, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Karen Kerrigan, President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Ramiro Cavazos, President & CEO, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Susan Au Allen, National President and CEO, US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce

[1]https://hinj.org/new-report-biopharmaceutical-industry-supports-over-4-million-jobs-and-1-1-trillion-in-u-s-economic-output/

[2] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/clinical-trial-brings-an-effective-hiv-vaccine-a-step-closer