In fiery address, Biden announces plan to extend prescription drug program
Biden wants to extend the current insulin cap of $35 a month for Medicare beneficiaries to all Americans.
Photo: Jeremy Walker/Getty Images
In a fiery, campaign-style State of the Union Address last night, President Joe Biden proposed lowering prescription drug discounts beyond the Medicare program.
Biden wants to extend the current insulin cap of $35 a month for Medicare beneficiaries to all Americans.
"Instead of paying $400 a month for insulin, seniors with diabetes only have to pay $35 a month," Biden said last night. "And now I want to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for every American who needs it."
Biden said, "This year Medicare is negotiating lower prices for some of the costliest drugs on the market that treat everything from heart disease to arthritis. Now it's time to go further and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for 500 drugs over the next decade."
"Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere else," Biden said. "It's wrong and I'm ending it."
Starting next year, the Inflation Reduction Act caps total prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare at $2,000 a year.
The law saves money not just for seniors, but for all taxpayers, Biden said.
On the Affordable Care Act, which was made law when he was vice president under President Barack Obama, Biden said he wants to make tax credits permanent that expire next year. The tax credits save $800 per person, per year, reducing health care premiums.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in 2022, allows the government to negotiate the price for prescription drugs with pharmaceutical companies.
It gives the Department of Health and Human Services the power to negotiate prices for some drugs with the highest total spending that are covered under Medicare Part B and Part D..
This week, all manufacturers participating in the first cycle of Medicare drug price negotiations responded with counteroffers to the Department of Health and Human Services.
THE LARGER TREND
Last year, pharma executives such as Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said the Inflation Reduction Act was destabilizing investment in drug innovation. The science was there, but not the capital to get certain drugs to market, they said.
Some Republicans reportedly also want to repeal this authority.
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org
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