I cut my finger this evening, while splitting my 80-milligram statin tablets, as advised by my insurance provider to reduce the cost of the medication (40-milligram tablets are the same price as 80-milligram tablets). I will no longer put up with this indignity.

Do I blame the health insurance company? No. They are sensibly advising me to save my own funds as well as their own. Do I blame the manufacturer of my generic medication? Perhaps. They are responsible for inflating the cost of my medication, which was originally a 20-year patent-protected medication. They seem to be able to dictate the price, without the mitigating effects of the invisible hand of the free market. The generic version’s price has steadily risen.

Who do I really blame? Our vapid and ineffectual congressional branch of government, dominated by the so-called Republicans who cannot honestly call themselves legislators, since most of the legislative work is being done by legal experts in the employ of the pharmaceutical industry.

Now, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, of South Carolina and Louisiana respectively, have introduced a bill that would abolish the byzantine Affordable Care Act with block grants to the states to finance … whatever. This is nothing more than a lazy way to evade hard policy choices. I expect more from our U.S. Senate and House.

We, as an American people, should expect representation that serves our interests, such as affordable medications, and not suffer such indignities that led to the Tea Party in Boston so many years ago. We should demand better from our elected representatives!

Stephen Small

Portland

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