New bipartisan advocacy group is pushing state and local leaders to rein in monopoly drug pricing as voters from both parties demand access to affordable drugs in their states
MANCHESTER CENTER, VT. – DEC. 10, 2025 – Americans for Lower Drug Prices (ALDP), a new nationwide, bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to lowering prescription drug costs, is launching today with a call for Americans in all fifty states to join our movement as we hold drug manufacturers accountable for monopoly pricing.
Headquartered in rural Vermont, ALDP started because of a problem that plays out thousands of times each day across the country – people going without the medicine they need because they simply can’t afford it.
“Drug manufacturers set the starting price, and everyone else in the health care system is forced to react,” said ALDP co-founders Michael Glassner and Jason Young. “Hospitals, pharmacies, doctors, insurers, and patients are downstream from pharmaceutical manufacturers’ monopoly pricing decisions. Even as Americans are financially strained this election cycle, they pay roughly three times more than patients in other countries for the same brand-name drugs – made by the same companies, in the same factories. We founded ALDP because the people who can least afford high prescription drug prices are those most likely to face them, and they need their state lawmakers’ help.”
Glassner is a Republican strategist who has held senior roles on multiple presidential campaigns, including Trump’s 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaigns. Young, a Democrat, is a former Obama health official who served at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration. While they come from different political backgrounds, they agree that high drug prices are serious problem in America – because monopoly pricing power has replaced market competition, requiring legislative solutions to restore affordability.
Americans of all political stripes have repeatedly told pollsters prescription drug prices are too high. For example, 87% of Trump voters and 96% of Harris voters share that view.
ALDP is focused on those who are most vulnerable to high drug costs and the access problems they create: uninsured Americans who pay full list prices, underinsured individuals facing high deductibles, seniors on fixed incomes, veterans facing gaps in care, and rural residents who are far more likely to live in health care deserts and have fewer health care options to begin with.
“Since we began this work, we’ve spoken with hundreds of patients facing impossible choices – and tragically, two who helped shape our mission have since died,” Young said. “They’re in our hearts and minds, and they’re the reason ALDP exists.”
ALDP is committed to working in all fifty states to pass legislation that holds drug manufacturers accountable for their high drug pricing – legislation such as Prescription Drug Affordability Boards. PDABs are state-level entities that review drug prices and, when warranted, can curb excessive or abusive pricing through transparent public processes. In four states, PDABs are authorized to set upper payment limits – guardrails that limit what purchasers pay when manufacturers try to exploit monopoly pricing power.
“Drug manufacturers have operated without meaningful accountability for too long, setting prices that force Americans to choose between their medications, rent, and food,” continued Glassner and Young. “Prescription Drug Affordability Boards give states the power to say ‘no’ to monopoly pricing and protect patients, communities, small businesses and taxpayers alike. State lawmakers are eager to act because this is one of the most concrete ways they can bring relief to Americans who are financially strained and demanding action on the high cost of living.”
Eleven states have already established PDABs, with Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington authorized to set upper payment limits when warranted by a careful, transparent review process. Colorado became the first state to act under its authority in February 2024, finding that the arthritis medication Enbrel was unaffordable to Colorado patients because of the manufacturer’s 1,582% price increase since FDA approval. That’s accountability in action, because it holds manufacturers responsible for pricing decisions through a fair, public process.
“Every day, Americans are rationing insulin, skipping doses, or going without their medications,” Young said. “States have the power to act now through PDABs, and we’re already mobilizing grassroots support.”
ALDP’s website, lowerrxprices.org, enables Americans to:
About Americans for Lower Drug Prices
Americans for Lower Drug Prices is a national 501(c)(4) advocacy organization focused on the root cause of unaffordable medications: unchecked prices set by manufacturers. We amplify patient voices, advocate for policies that hold manufacturers accountable, and help ensure access for vulnerable and rural Americans. Learn more at lowerrxprices.org.
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