Kaine, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Stop Pharmaceutical Companies from Exploiting Advertising Tax Loopholes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, alongside U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and 16 of their Senate colleagues, introduced the No Tax Breaks for Drug Ads Act, legislation that would prohibit pharmaceutical drug manufacturers from claiming tax deductions for expenses on advertising directly to consumers. Under current law, drug manufacturers are allowed to deduct the cost of advertising expenses from federal taxes—resulting in steeper drug prices.

“As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, lowering prescription drug costs for Virginians is one of my top priorities. Passing the Inflation Reduction Act was a major step toward that goal, but there’s more work to do,” said Kaine. “Ending the practice of giving drug companies tax breaks for advertising—which leads to higher drug prices—is a commonsense reform that can help us build on the progress we’ve made.”

Kaine has long fought to lower prescription drug costs. Last year, he introduced the bipartisan Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act to protect patients from harmful insurance and Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) practices that raise out-of-pocket drug costs. He also introduced bipartisan legislation to lower drug costs and level the playing field for patients by prohibiting PBMs from making more money on high-cost drugs than they do from lower-cost drugs. Kaine also voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in the Senate by one vote, to cap the cost of insulin to $35 per month for most patients and lower health care costs for thousands of Virginians. 

In addition to Kaine and Shaheen, the bill was introduced by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joe Manchin (I-WV), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin (MI-07) introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.

The bill text is available here.

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