on wednesday at 2:00 p.m. eastern, live coverage of president trump at the 75th american veterans convention in louisville, kentucky. thursday at 6:30 p.m., jay inslee, john delaney, and tim ryan life from londonderry new hampshire. -- londonderry, new hampshire. then, pete buttigieg with a lifetime hall from nashua, new hampshire. what campaign 2020 coverage anytime online on c-span.org or listen live from where you are on the go using the free c-span radio app. host: we are joined by former congressman james greenwood, who served as president and ceo of the biotech organization. what is the mission? we represent 1000 biotechnology companies. most of them are the small

theanies that are on cutting edge of the science. what we do is two things. we hold meetings and conferences over the world. we bring investors together with small companies, sometimes large companies and they make deals and decide whether to invest in companies are not. we do public policy advocates. federal level both before congress and regulatory agencies. how -- much does your organization fund? caller: -- guest: one thing i try to do is meet the freshman members of congress. begin by 100 and introducing technology and -- what are the policy issues that are conducive to the success of ?nnovation how much of the

conversation have you focused on the cost of ascription drugs? caller: most of them. host: do you think prescription docs cost too much? caller: there is a group of patients who have diseases for which we have already developed cures. there might not one of them should never be a -- without the medicine they need. we believe in that imperative and makes her that does not happen. the second group of patients is a larger group and that is the patience for which we have not yet developed. hope, wents that have have to make sure the scientists working day and night around the country have been -- the resources necessary to develop treatments. i start there. to answer question -- do i think docs are too expensive?

on the main, no. let's talk about why. some of them are. they are only expensive until they become generic. might start out appear and in its patent expires. basicrives the price is economics. 90% of everything we do, all of the trials we get involved in, fail. most companies fail. the biggest economics a high risk, high reward. we have investors in our companies and those capitalists listen the companies and to the data. they might treat this in -- disease or other. the capitalist says i am going to lose my shirt nine times out of 10. if i can make my money back on works.h, this system

i will continue to invest. high risk, high reward. host: why did the drugs american spy cost two to six times as much as docs cost overseas? caller: we are dust guest: -- guest: your the only market-based left in the world. in every other country -- canada, new york another -- elsewhere. --r someone said you are in the u.k.. we have a six -- fixed budget. he had this much money to spend on drugs so i will give you $300. the company will take that because it is better than nothing. are sufficientns

at driving into the sector. if we go down to their levels come up as investors will say i cannot get my money back so i will invest in the new app or other places they can invest their mind. host: prescription drug prices is the top of our conversation. james greenwood with us, a republican from pennsylvania served from 1993 2005. (202) 748-8001. immigrants (202) 748-8000 -- democrats (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. can you explain how the price of a drug is set? the nih, thank god is well-funded by the congress. basiconey goes to

research. not trying to create a drug but find out why a seal works in this way. or how the genetics of this system worked. a startup company might lease or intellectual property and the mr. to develop and process. it could take 12 years. .bout $2 billion they take the data to the clinical trials. it, theya approves said price. whether it is in medicare, they negotiate the prices. what happens is the negotiating with a pharmaceutical benefits -- the idea of a pbm was a good initially. there are three companies that make this duck. i represent 50 million people. from insurance companies or employers. whoever gives me the best price,

we are going to take that drug and give to those patients. now they say three companies, i am going to buy one of your drugs. who will give me the biggest rebate to put in my pocket? coachesult of that, the have to raise their list places to give the pbm. the patient does not get the business. the patient and the paying on the list price. is time to do away with pdfs? host: it is time to radically change that symbol. middlemen are extracting 106,000 dollars a year. caller: what is a better system look like? (202) 748-8000 if there is going to be a rebate given. patient does not have to pay a high price.

thatould not be the case countries are forced to raise the list prices. the country has many cases, including insulin or they receive less than before. at of illinois, a democrat. caller: i am at -- $1600 at my excellent. i could not pay for it. i had to call the manufacturer and ask if they with throw a hardship in front of me directly. they said they would send maybe my doctor and call -- and go past. insulin hasg on is been around. what this guy does is the given those back rooms and changes that patent a little bit.

.nd it becomes the new pet it -- $1600. six host: thank you both. i should not happen to you. that goes to the first moral imperative i mentioned. no one in this country should ever do without a drug that they need because they cannot afford what is required to come from their pocket. there are 45 million people like you on medicare part d. and part b. and one million a year pay more $10,000 ournd some organization went to congress copiers ago and sent, you need to put an out-of-pocket cap -- on medicare part d. know what to be more than $200 a month for the drugs that they

need. it is not expensive to do that. it is $1.2 billion year. like millions of people like you. and i said we will help you for it. we will come to the table and the money up to pay for it. no one should be in the position you are now, mike. host: what happened? thankfully, senator grassley and the ranking member senator wyden included that in their package. . went it is in there. we do not think that the weight it should be. the total cap is a hit in a situation like mike's. would rather the see that stretched out so the patient does not have to pay more than $200 per year. month, excuse me. we are committed to that. know if that is

scheduled for a floor vote or where that is in the process? guest: i think it will end up in the end of the year on this package. everything gets props to the ends. and clearly, the congress, the president wants to do something to protect patients. i am hoping at the end of the year, we will get that done. host:? at the end of the fiscal year guest: minimum would probably be saturday. this will be a endless present. rocco, maryland, independent, good morning. caller: thanks for c-span. i want to make a comment about the guest. the demo comment is our health care system is a wreck. worsepublicans to make it . that is the general comments. he talksfic comment is

about why it was change so much more. .he answer was we have a market economy and health care and nobody is does. subsidizing metal and the rest of the world but also all the profits of drug makers. that was my point. host: let me agree with your first point -- guest: let me agree with your first point that the health system is in tatters. no one in this country should be without health care. i agree the congress has failed. i will even agree the who have said they are going to repeal and replace have-nots and that. i want a republican. i am still a registered republican. to your other point, i will agree with you there.

we are subsidizing much of the rest of the world. true, and iwere not suggested to this administration that they take this up as a matter of trade issues rather than making deals strong. they elevate the prices. we are not shouldering all of the burden. -- if they come down to our levels, the problem is there were not enough revenues coming into the small bites. the middle sized bites. was we haveentioned to develop. the alzheimer's parking signs -- many people waiting for those, we have to have the resources to do that we do not benefit in the

past that we pay more. we meets the world in this. we have one million jobs come out of this industry so a lot of people are working. our patience have access to more drugs and clinical trials. there is the benefit. i won't tonight the rest of the world is getting a benefit we are paying for. the solution is to make them pay more, not to bring the levels down so we can no longer afford innovation. host: the president's proposed place -- what is that? caller: one of the president's themes is we are getting taken advantage of by the rest of the world. he looks at this issue and says i do not think we should pay more than the rest of the world. you take the average price of drugs. isn't injectable drugs. look at the average price over 16 nations. canada, japan.

countries like greece which are very low. thane will pay nowhere 126% of what they're paying. it is an african good idea, except those companies look at our prices and that is how they said there's. we was set are slower and there was that there's lower and as a result of that, the investors will look at that and say i cannot get my money back. to invest ing medical innovation because the reimbursements are too low. host: is that the same as controls? guest: it is the government setting the prices. we negotiate our prices. you will hear people say all the rest of the world may negotiate prices but in medicare, the government says you cannot negotiate. the meta-fish -- medicare benefits is ministered by

insurance companies. those companies negotiate. the solution to this problem is largely fixing the out-of-pocket cost. if we can lower the out-of-pocket cost, it does not matter what they are paying canada and england. what matters is -- what are the american people paying? caller: we want to take you to a on the issue of drug prices. this is senator john kennedy, republican of louisiana talking. do not want to go to price controls. i do not believe him. the american people are being played for chumps. just chumps. forng four times the cost the same drug in another country? and it has got to

stop. i do not mean to be overly critical. i am a member. i am criticizing myself. some people say we were born tired and raised lazy. we never compass anything. we have not on this issue. just yada.s, the american people are going to demand it. if you did not make concrete suggestions that are helpful so we can both prosper, the american consumer and your clients? we end up with price controls. that is a fact. host: what would your response have been? senator kenny does not want the american people to be chumps and pay more than they can afford, senator kennedy should get behind a bill that cap's out-of-pocket in a medicare program.

that is the solution. meet both moral imperatives. they make sure that they can afford the mental to make sure they have the resources we can at best -- invest. the science is galloping now. we have immunotherapy. the hope that patients have has never been marked today. if we neglect dime this system, all of the science will go down the chain as with the hoax of all of those patients. guest: james green -- host: james greenwood with us for about another 20 minutes. wisconsin, independence, good morning. caller: yes. know what is going on, but they are not replacing any pain medication whatsoever. nobodye is making sure

is on any kind of narcotic pain medication and i am sorry. if you are in a program, and you have been -- i worked for 37 years after the same company i got hurt there. i had to retire early. have been on payment occasion for so many years, now they have company completely off and i am right back to where i cannot do things anymore. what they are cutting off, is it opioid pain medication? caller: yes. i do not understand. it's a gephardt where people could get high on it. they did that over three years ago. they did that part of her three years ago. i do not know what the problem is.

why they are making it where you cannot have any pain medication. host: congressman? guest: your story is like that of many americans who face injuries at workplace recreation and whatever. and as a result, surgeries need pain medication. opioid is a very effective medicine to block pain. as you know, we have suffered and are continuing to suffer from an epidemic that began with opioids being overly prescribed with corrupt pharmacists who were prescribing, selling, making ridiculous amounts of opioid drugs and that led to her when crisis, a fence no crisis. we have thousands of deaths in the country as a result of that.

the response should be to fix what is wrong with the system and model limit your opportunity to take the medicine that your doctor prescribes, to treat the pain you're suffering from. i would suggest and i'm sure you're talking to your doctor but talked your member of congress to see what it is that is having an effect. one thing i can tell the companies are acutely aware of this phenomenon. we took a trip to ohio just to look at addicts, treatment officials, judges, to get a sense of the opioid crisis. and 13 of our studios went up to do that. we are trying to innovate solutions to this problem. innovate new treatments to people who are addicted so they can get off of the jugs they're taking illicitly. and also innovating new drugs that are pain relievers that are not addictive.

there is a company called era. a nonaddictive drug used for surgeries. that is the kind of innovation we need to help people who need pain relief but do not want become addicted. guest: the biotechnology -- the biotechnology information's bio.org. jesse is a republican out of florida. good morning. caller: good morning. host: jesse, you are on. caller: i heard your speaker talk about innovation in medicine. the reason we need to have fireplaces is so that we can have innovation in medicine. the problem is innovation in medicine, they go on a formula that has a level five. even with medicare, we do not get any reimbursement. we are praying for innovation

that is using the money that we paid to support people overseas and get that innovation supported by us. we do not get to benefit from the innovation. this innovation is to be controlled by the government. companies that develop new products should be getting grants from government and those should be passed directly to the american people, not to foreigners. jesse come away you said about medicare and a high tier -- the solution to your problem pass aress needs to limit, a cap on how to -- on out-of-pocket so you were not strapped with payments you cannot afford. as far as the government taking over the whole process, trust me if you can.

you tell me that will be the end of innovation. have bureaucrats deciding what we are going to invest in. we will invest number of dollars into this product -- why don't we do -- if the first trial fails, we go back to the drawing boards. professions, ceos who have a lot of experience losing money and starting again -- these are the decisions that have to be made by those folks. if you look at how we have succeeded, leading the world in biotech innovations, you understand why that is the system that works. they are not innovating drugs and other systems around the world. most of the drugs -- many of the to go.re innovated this is the only place to get a

return on investment. if we dumbed down our system and make it a government run system, you will never get the innovation we are producing now. nor the kind of innovation we are poised in the near future. host: coming up, about 10 more minutes if you want to join the conversation. republicans,1 four (202) 748-8000 for democrats, (202) 748-8002 for independence. elias is on in maryland. independence. caller: quick comment. behind the market, it is a little long. companies pass without any kind bribe. the only solution would be keeping the free market the way

it is now. not know why it doesn't make sense. that took a lot of time to review this kind of drug. that is ok. it is third world countries. case, we can preserve the free market. [indiscernible] guest: so, the reality is that -- you mentioned the companies set prices however they want. they cannot. they negotiate prices. when a company is fortunate enough to have a new drug approved that patients are

waiting for, they go to the insurers and say we have a new drug. this is what it does. where are you willing to pay? a negotiation occurs. if that was the case, we would be paying $1 million for every prescription. there are negotiations and the price can be high for a while and it belongs to society for a long time at a low price. that is not the answer. it is not also the answer that it will impact drugs from playing countries. .hat is not safe it toseen jugs and put this country from around the world. i was in an airport one-time and the folks at the airport, the customs people opened the package and it looked like the

x-ray machine indicated drugs. there is poison. there are people around the world to make fake stocks. they are very good at making labels look exactly like the real thing. what i found that that would .edicine that can be poisonous in reporting products from around the world is not safe. what you're doing when you do that is undercutting our system that drives investment into an novation and produces new treatments and yours. .e cannot have it both ways we cannot say we want all the drugs at rock bottom cost and asked the judge industry to make magnificent products. to do is makeve sure the patient does not pay or shepocket what he

said should. insurance should become a weather medicare or private insurance -- insurance should be like this. we pay when we are of -- well. and when we are sick, we are covered. it should not be that when we are sick, we get hit with medical >> c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. wednesday morning, we discuss top issues around the country for members of congress as they meet with constituents in their districts during the recess. then, we talk about track records for member of kok -- for members of congress engaging with their constituents. watch c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. eastern wednesday morning. join the discussion. ♪ up live wednesday, the

hudson institute hosts a discussion on tensions between the u.s. and iran. that is at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. at 2:00 p.m., president trump's in louisville, kentucky four remarks at the amvets convention. on c-span2, the navy league hears from maritime administrator mark busby. at 9:00 a.m., u.s. cybersecurity and drone technology infrastructure, as we hear from brian harrell from the department of homeland security. next, a hearing on homelessness and the los angeles metro area and its impact on a national level and how to combat it. the house financial services committee held a hearing on the topic in los angeles. in this portion, local government officials testify on housing in los angeles county. this runs 90 minutes. discuss affordable housing.