Following President Biden’s announcement today to hold Big Pharma accountable and deliver for America’s seniors, DNC National Press Secretary Sarafina Chitika released the following statement:

“Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced that giant pharmaceutical companies will be required to pay Medicare rebates for price gouging American taxpayers – holding Big Pharma accountable and ensuring taxpayers don’t pay the price for their corporate greed. After lowering the cost of prescription drugs with his historic Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden continues to hold Big Pharma’s feet to the fire to ensure hardworking families can afford the medications they rely on. Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans from the presidential campaign trail to the halls of Congress continue to cozy up to Big Pharma by railing against President Biden’s efforts to lower health care costs for working families, all while campaigning to rip away their access to coverage — a losing agenda voters will reject once more next November.” 

President Biden announced new efforts to hold Big Pharma accountable by requiring them to pay Medicare rebates for their price gouging. 

The Hill: “President Biden will travel to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland on Thursday to deliver remarks highlighting how a signature piece of legislation is capping prescription drug costs. Biden will make the short trip to Bethesda to announce that dozens of pharmaceutical companies will be required to pay rebates to Medicare because they raised drug prices faster than the rate of inflation.”

White House Fact Sheet: “The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a new list of 48 Medicare Part B drugs that raised their prices faster than inflation, and may be subject to inflation rebates in the first quarter of 2024 as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act.

“President Biden’s prescription drug law cracks down on price gouging from Big Pharma, requiring companies to pay back Medicare if they raise prices on seniors at a higher rate than inflation. Starting in January, some Medicare beneficiaries who take these 48 prescription drugs – including drugs used to treat cancer and fight infections – will have lower coinsurance than what they would have paid otherwise, and their out-of-pocket costs may decrease by $1 to as much as $2,786 per average dose.”

MAGA Republicans in Congress blocked an Inflation Reduction Act provision to cap the price of insulin at $35/month for private insurers.

CBS News: “Senate Republicans on Sunday blocked a $35 monthly cap on the cost of insulin in the private market from being included in Democrats’ economic tax and spending package, voting down an amendment to the measure during a marathon session leading up to what Democrats hope will be final passage of the bill.”

The Hill: “Senate Republicans on Friday introduced a bill that would roll back the drug pricing reforms included in the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act, including the measures allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and capping annual drug expenses for many seniors.”

“The bill allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time in the program’s history. It also placed a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on annual drug costs for seniors on Medicare, as well as a $35 monthly cop for insulin. … If passed, the bill states it would make it so that the drug pricing measures in the Inflation Reduction Act ‘had never been enacted.’”

Axios: “Some key House Republicans are calling for the repeal of Democrats’ newly-passed drug pricing measure if the GOP flips control of one or both chambers of Congress next year. Why it matters: The comments show Republicans are not giving up the fight against sweeping measures aimed at lowering prescription drug prices, and give a glimpse of what their health agenda could look like.”

And congressional MAGA Republicans want to take away Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices, remove the Inflation Reduction Act’s insulin cap, and allow Big Pharma to cheat their way out of paying their fair share. 

White House Fact Sheet: “By 2031, repealing this provision would: 

Cost seniors $7 billion per year.

Increase federal deficits by $14 billion per year.

Give away over $20 billion to pharmaceutical companies per year.”

White House Fact Sheet: “Monthly insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries are now capped at $35—providing certainty and critical cost savings for seniors who in some cases were paying as much as $400 for a month’s supply of insulin. The Republican Study Committee budget, as well as the House Budget Committee-passed budget plan, propose to repeal this and other IRA drug price reforms. Repealing this provision would mean the 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who use insulin could see their annual costs rise by an average of $500.”

White House Fact Sheet: “Blocking implementation of the president’s international tax reform proposals means: Protecting a system in which Big Pharma can lower its taxes to under 12% by shifting profits offshore.”

Donald Trump’s administration sided with Big Pharma over hardworking Americans by attempting to restrict the federal government’s power to seize patents of expensive drugs.

STAT News: “In a little-noticed move, a [Trump] Commerce Department unit has proposed a new rule that would prevent the federal government from using a controversial legal provision known as ‘march-in rights’ to combat the high prices of products developed with taxpayer dollars. And if adopted, the change may rob Americans of a tool that could be used to lower prescription drug costs, according to consumer advocates.”

MAGA Republicans running for president continue to rail against and campaign on repealing President Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act, which is lowering prescription drug costs for families across the country. 

Insider: “Former President Donald Trump on Friday slammed the Democratic-led climate, health, and tax bill, arguing that Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was ‘taken for a ride’ by Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.”

DeSantis: “You know, the good thing is I think there’s a pretty clear path to being able to reverse a lot of this stuff. The things he’s doing through executive order, you could reverse right away. But even what they did with the Inflation Reduction Act, they passed that via budget reconciliation in the Senate. So with 50 votes, I think, you know, we win the presidency, I’m pretty sure we would win the Senate and keep the House. And so at that case, what they put in by reconciliation, you could repeal by reconciliation.”

Haley: “[The Inflation Reduction Act] ‘is a communist manifesto.’”

Christie: “The Inflation Reduction Act was a mistake.”

Trump continues to campaign on a MAGAnomics agenda that would rip away health care from millions of Americans. 

Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”

Mediaite: “‘OBAMACARE SUCKS!!!’ Trump Rants About New Plan — Years After He Promised It Was ‘Two Weeks’ Away”

The Messenger: “Former President Donald Trump said he is ‘seriously looking at alternatives’ to Obamacare in a new post on his social media platform Truth Social. He also called it a ‘low point for the Republican Party’ that lawmakers failed to ‘terminate’ the health insurance program established by the Affordable Care Act. According to the latest figures this year, more than 40 million Americans rely on the program for those who can’t afford private plans.”

Trump: “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

And every Republican presidential hopeful has sided with Big Pharma over working families by calling to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Jack Heath: “They’re going ahead and saying you would repeal the Affordable Care Act, would you?”

Haley: “It’s not about one small policy of, you know, Affordable Care Act. It’s about fixing the entire health care system.”

DeSantis: “That was one of [Trump’s] big promises as president, he had Republican majorities, and didn’t get the job done. … I opposed Obamacare, I did support the repeal and replace … What we’ll end up doing is effectively just superseding Obamacare.”

Christie: “It’s about delivering on issues that voters care about. So the fact is that they care deeply about Obamacare. And Donald Trump promised them he’d repeal and replace it. He had a Republican Congress. He didn’t do it.”

Ramaswamy: “I think Obamacare has been a disaster.”