Hillary Clinton reveals plan to stop 'price gouging' by pharmaceutical companies

During a campaign stop in Iowa Tuesday, Hillary Clinton unveiled her proposal for a $250 monthly cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs.

The Democratic presidential candidate said she wants to stop "price gouging" by pharmaceutical companies, Reuters reports. "We need to protect hard-working Americans here at home from excessive costs," Clinton said in Des Moines. "Too often these drugs cost a fortune."

Clinton's plan calls for encouraging the development and use of generic drugs, and making it so pharmaceutical companies can no longer write off direct advertising to consumers as a business expense — if that was stopped, she said, the government could receive billions of dollars in tax revenue. Clinton also proposes banning "pay-for-delay agreements," which occur when a brand-name drug owner pays a generic competitor to keep its product off the market for a set period of time; allowing people to buy drugs from other countries as long as there are strict safety standards; and having Medicare negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over drug prices and rebates.

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