Are you worried about healthcare? I am! Healthcare in our country is a mess. We are the richest nation on the planet, yet our healthcare system ranks 10th (dead last) among 10 peer countries according to the non-partisan Commonwealth Fund. In the last year, approximately one-third of Americans borrowed money or cut spending to pay healthcare costs a West Health-Gallup Center survey found. We have the lowest life expectancy and the highest rates of preventable deaths among our peer countries. Yet, in 2022, we spent $12,742 per person on health care, almost double the average our peer countries spent.

Healthcare in our country is so messed up that I don’t feel I know everything wrong that needs to be fixed. Consequently, I don’t yet have a comprehensive fix. My heart is in fixing healthcare so that our system gets better for all of us in a way that we don’t further balloon our national debt.

As an Independent, I’ll work with everyone to make our healthcare system better for all of us. As your Congressman, I will task at least one Congressional staffer to work exclusively on healthcare until I can offer you and Congress a complete fix.

I do have fixes for some of our healthcare problems. One of these is lowering the cost of prescription drugs. But, I want to stress that as an Independent, I will work with everyone to look out for all of us. If you, or someone else, has a better fix than mine, I’ll modify my plan, or adopt your plan, as long as the end result lowers the price of prescription drugs. As an Independent, I don’t have to defer to any party or special interest – I will always be staunchly Independent, looking out for all of us, for we the people.

Here’s How We’ll Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs By a Lot

Medicare negotiating directly with drug manufactures to lower prices for some prescription drugs is certainly a good start for 2026 and beyond.

But there’s a lot more we can do to reduce the cost of our prescription drugs. My plan to reduce the cost of medicines comes in four parts.

While my four-part plan might appear somewhat technical, my plan will be so effective in lowering prescription drug prices that if my plan gains traction with you and our community, the big pharma lobby will undoubtedly spend millions of dollars to say bad things about me:

1. No More Junk Patents. I propose a No More Junk Patents Act. The No More Junk Patents Act will prohibit the United States Patent and Trademark Office from granting “junk patents” to drug manufacturers. Drug manufacturers use “junk patents” to extend the patent protections for their prescription drugs, thereby allowing them to charge whatever price they want for a longer time.

As a nation, we want to encourage the development of prescription drugs (which can be super expensive to develop); thus, we provide drug manufacturers years of patent protection to make significant money on their new prescription medicines. What has happened is that drug manufacturers have corrupted the patent system: They make small tweaks in their drugs, and thereafter, get new “junk patents” for the purpose of extending the years of exclusive protection, costing all of us lots. The No More Junk Patents Act will ensure that after the initial patent-protection period expires, low-cost generic drugs will be marketed, giving you the choice between the name brand medicine and a generic. This will save you and me money.

2. Require Players in the Pharma Chain to Look Out for Our Best Interests. We should change the law to required everyone up and down the pharma chain, including the middlemen Pharmacy Benefit Managers (“PBM”), to look out first and foremost for the patient’s (our) best interest. Requiring all pharma chain players to look out for the patient’s interest first will end the corrupt side payments (and other nefarious practices) that drive up the costs of our prescription drugs.

3. Enforce the New Requirement Like a Hawk. We should change the law to require the Federal Trade Commission or Federal Drug Administration to make it a top priority to enforce the new requirement that all pharma chain players look out first and foremost for the patient’s best interest, the best interests of we the people.

4. Require a Patient Price Guide for Medicines. We should enact a law requiring drug and insurance companies to provide us a simple, easy-to-read Patient Price Guide for Medicines, just like the nutrition guides on the back of cereal boxes. The Patient Price Guide should tell us the out-of-pocket cost for a prescription drug with insurance, the cash price (without insurance), whether a generic is available, whether there are any restrictions (e.g., is prior insurance-company authorization required), and what comparable drugs our doctor might consider. This information is available now electronically; there’s just no mandate requiring that the information be made available to patients (you and me). A Patient Price Guide should help us reduce the cost of our prescription drugs.