Missourians are already stretching every dollar, and health care is often the hardest piece to make work. Prescription drugs, in particular, have become one of the biggest pressures on household budgets. At a time when families are already stretched thin, Congress should not be advancing policies that risk driving those costs even higher, especially through must-pass legislation.
Every year, I hear the same concerns from families, neighbors, and community leaders: health care keeps getting more expensive, and it’s harder to plan around those costs. Flexibility matters more than ever. Missourians need policies that preserve choice and competition, not new federal mandates buried in the House-passed minibus now headed to the Senate.
That’s why Missouri employers are grateful for Senator Schmitt’s consistent leadership and are counting on him to continue standing up for businesses and families by rejecting the pharma-backed provisions included in the House-passed minibus package that interfere with private-market negotiations and weaken the tools we rely on to manage rising drug costs.
When you’re trying to keep coverage affordable, every tool matters. Many Missouri employers depend on private-sector negotiators who work directly with drug manufacturers to secure discounts and guide plans toward lower-cost options. When those negotiations succeed, the savings help keep premiums and out-of-pocket costs more manageable for workers.
But the House-passed minibus includes provisions that would tie the hands of those negotiators, limiting competition and reducing leverage against already high drug prices. These ideas are being pushed largely by pharmaceutical companies seeking government mandates that protect their profits, not by employers or families trying to lower costs.
The public sees this clearly. A recent survey shows voters don’t want Washington bureaucrats making more decisions about their health care. By a three-to-one margin, voters say they are more likely to support candidates who protect employer choice, especially those who back performance-based approaches that reward real savings. Just as telling, 85 percent of voters say they’re concerned these policies would increase their monthly health care premiums.
Yet some proposals being sold as “reform” would do exactly that. Strip employers of flexibility, weaken performance-based incentives and shift decision-making power from local businesses to Washington regulators. One analysis even shows that policies targeting these market-based tools could raise premiums by more than $26 billion annually while delivering a massive windfall to drug companies.
Missouri employers don’t need more federal interference in private health care. We need more competition, more flexibility, and fewer mandates. We need room to design benefits that fit our workforce, because a school district isn’t the same as a small business like mine, and both deserve options.
That’s why I’m urging Senator Schmitt, who has always been a strong advocate for free markets and for putting Missouri families and consumers first, to hold the line and reject the House-passed minibus. Missourians count on his leadership to protect our freedoms, preserve employer choice, and stand up to Washington mandates that would weaken the tools we use to keep prescription drugs affordable.
I’m proud to live and work in Missouri. My neighbors, friends, and family deserve health care that’s affordable and predictable and Washington shouldn’t make that harder.
