Fischer accepts hundreds of thousands in pharma cash while opposing lower drug prices

Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer sided with the pharmaceutical industry against President Joe Biden’s efforts to lower drug prices for consumers. Over the course of her political career, she has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the sector.

Fischer, who was first elected in 2012, is facing a challenge from independent labor union leader Dan Osborn in the November election. Recent polls have shown the race to be within 1-2 points.

In 2022, the Democratic-led Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which included provisions authorizing the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries and capping the monthly out-of-pocket cost of insulin for those beneficiaries at $35. 

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry, opposed the legislation, misleadingly claiming that reduced profits would force drug companies to spend less on research and development. A 2019 estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that authorizing Medicare to negotiate lower prices would result in just eight fewer drugs being introduced to the U.S. market in the first decade and only 30 fewer in the subsequent 10 years. 

Though Fischer and every other Republican in Congress sided with Big Pharma and voted against the act, Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate, and Biden signed it into law. 

Fischer’s Senate office and campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. In an August 2022 column, Fischer wrote: “This weekend, Democrats unilaterally passed yet another reckless spending bill. The Schumer-Manchin legislation will waste taxpayer dollars, raise taxes, and do nothing to address inflation.”

Fischer also voted against a bipartisan attempt to alter the Inflation Reduction Act to extend the $35-a-month insulin price cap to millions of Americans with private health insurance plans. Seven Senate Republicans and all 50 Democrats backed that effort, falling three short of the supermajority required to overcome a filibuster.  

Asked that day by a reporter, “Why was that insulin vote so important for you all?” Fischer reportedly replied, “I don’t know.”

According to OpenSecrets data, Fischer has received at least $205,045 in campaign donations from the pharmaceutical and health products industry since her 2012 campaign. Her Nebraska Sandhills leadership PAC took another $26,000 from industry corporate political action committees. 

“If you want to know why Deb Fischer voted against legislation to lower the cost of insulin, look no further than who donates to her campaign,“ Osborn tweeted in February. “Two words: Big Pharma.”

Osborn has pledged not to accept any pharma PAC donations. His campaign website says he will fight to “end wasteful government handouts to the pharmaceutical industry.”