U.S. Senator Chris Murphy and six Senate Democrats are pressing major pharmaceutical companies to provide evidence that agreements with the Trump administration will reduce prescription drug costs and benefit American patients, raising questions about healthcare affordability and Medicaid pricing that could affect Connecticut residents.

Murphy, a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined fellow senators in sending letters to multiple drug manufacturers seeking clarification about how the agreements will affect drug pricing for Medicaid and whether the arrangements will lead to real savings for patients and taxpayers.

The senators are requesting detailed information on which medications are covered by the agreements and whether the prices offered through the deals are actually lower than the net prices that state Medicaid programs currently receive.

“We write today to seek more information from [company] about which drugs are subject to the Medicaid components of your agreement with the Trump administration and whether the prices you will make available on these drugs are actually lower than the net pricing states currently receive on the same products in Medicaid,” the senators wrote. “It is difficult to discern what American patients and taxpayers stand to gain from your agreement with the Trump Administration.”

Letters were sent to AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, and Sanofi requesting pricing data and details about the “most favored nation” prices referenced in the announcements.

The letter was co-signed by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).  The full text of the letter can be found here.