Earlier today, Senator Cortez Masto joined other Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee in calling on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to resign
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) questioned Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. She grilled Secretary Kennedy on his defense of the Republican Tax Law and it’s exemption of critical cancer drugs from Medicare price negotiation, as well as his failure to act to prevent rising costs for seniors with Medicare and Medicare drug coverage.
Senator Cortez Masto contrasted Secretary Kennedy’s claim to take on Big Pharma with his support for the Republican legislation that will allow pharmaceutical companies to continue charging Medicare outrageous prices for critical cancer drugs.
“You said, and I quote, ‘I stand with President Trump to say no more middlemen, no more foreign freeloaders, no more skyrocketing drug prices. We’re putting patients first and taking on Big Pharma to make America healthy again.’ Yet your record tells a different story,” said Senator Cortez Masto.
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), prescription drugs like Keytruda, the top-selling cancer medication in the United States, are shielded from the Medicare price negotiations that begun under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Sen. Cortez Masto voted to pass in 2022. Despite medications like Keytruda costing patients upwards of $175,000 per year, Sec. Kennedy supported the OBBBA and failed to answer questions on why Keytruda would be exempt from Medicare negotiations.
Senator Cortez Masto then pushed Sec. Kennedy on projected cost increases for seniors with Medicare Part B and D. “How much are Medicare Part B premiums expected to increase next year?”
“I don’t know,” was Secretary Kennedy’s response.
“Next year, seniors and families are facing higher health care costs across the board. Twenty-three million people on Medicare with standalone Part D drug plans could see their premiums rise to $50 a month, up from $35, because the Trump Administration is cutting the federal subsidy that has been keeping costs down,” said Sen. Cortez Masto. “Part B premiums will jump 11.6% to $206 a month in 2026, one of the largest single year increases in decades.”
Secretary Kennedy offered no solutions for these price hikes, despite the fact that HHS has the authority to bring down costs. He continued to display the concerning lack of understanding of his role and authority, similar to his confirmation hearing earlier this year.
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