Maine's 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree says drug companies promised to lower prices, but have been quietly raising them.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is blasting the drug industry for what she says are bait and switch tactics that are hurting consumers. Pingree says while drug companies negotiated with the Obama administration to voluntarily lower prices, they were quietly raising them. Pingree says it's time to repeal the sweetheart deal the companies won in a 2003 law that bans the federal government from negotiating for lower prices.

"The idea that we can't do what any good business would do and that's negotiate for the best prices of medication, is unthinkable," Pingree told Capitol News Service. "And now for the drug companies to say, 'Well you might be doing some things to reduce prices in the future, so we're going to set a higher ceiling right now.'"

Pingree says there will be a strong move in Congress to lower prices. She says what is most troubling is that while seniors complain they can't afford to pay for their drugs, a study shows the prices for the brand name drugs they use most was up 9.3 percent last year, the largest increase since 1992.