Democrats in Congress are pushing legislation to force pharmaceuticals to lower the cost of prescription drugs.  The goal is to ensure that all Americans can afford the medicines they need to preserve their health.

Pharmaceutical companies are pushing back, stressing that researching and developing successful new medicines costs billions of dollars, and the unsuccessful efforts cost a lot of money too.  They say prescription drug prices cannot be artificially lowered or else efforts to bring new and better treatments to market will be derailed.

How exactly would the legislation from Democrats work?  Why are prescription drug prices so much lower in other countries than they are in the U.S.?  What can be done to help patients afford the drugs they need right now without stalling progress on future treatments?

We tackle all of these questions and more with Chris Jacobs, CEO of the Juniper Research Group and author of "The Case Against Single-Payer."