(Bridgewater, NJ) — Tom Kean, Jr. has taken nearly $1 million from pharmaceutical and healthcare special interests. So it’s not a surprise that during last night’s debate he parroted their talking points to oppose H.R. 3, which would save Americans thousands in prescription drug costs each year, and would cut federal spending by close to $500 billion over ten years.
Congressman Tom Malinowski is a leading advocate for H.R. 3, which would lower prescription drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Price negotiations would save people with diabetes more than $700 per year and decrease the cost of cancer treatments by thousands each month, and are supported by 86% of Americans.
Kean has put pharmaceutical profits over patients for 20 years in Trenton, raking in campaign contributions from healthcare special interests, including from a CEO who made his fortune raising the cost of life-saving cancer medication by 500 percent. In return he opposed protections for those with pre-existing conditions, voted against protecting New Jerseyans from surprise out-of-network medical bills, and even against $11 million for a prescription drug assistance program for seniors and people with disabilities.
“Kean has spent decades as a Trenton insider lining his pockets while voting to make sure the rest of us pay more for insurance that covers less,” said Malinowski for Congress Campaign Manager Daniel Fleiss. “New Jersey can’t afford to send Tom Kean to Congress.”
“We have wonderful pharmaceutical companies in our district, they employ a lot of my constituents, but we’ve got a problem in terms of the high cost of healthcare and the constantly rising cost of pharmaceutical drugs…” Malinowski said during the debate. “That’s why I don’t take corporate PAC contributions, so that I can actually take an independent position on issues like this, which affect the lives of my constituents.”
Watch the exchange at last night’s debate here: