REMINDER: President Biden Took On Big Pharma – And WON
March 7, 2024
DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement:
“President Biden took on Big Pharma and won — and so did the American people. Thanks to the historic Inflation Reduction Act, insulin costs are capped at $35 a month for millions of Americans on Medicare and prescription drug costs are coming down for seniors. Donald Trump would cave to Big Pharma and drive those prices back up. Trump has called for ending the Affordable Care Act, which would rip away health care from millions and leave Americans with preexisting conditions high and dry at the mercy of big insurance companies who could once again deny them coverage. Make no mistake: Americans’ health care is on the ballot this November, and President Biden will always take on special interests to lower costs and provide essential care for hardworking families.”
President Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act requires pharmaceutical companies to rebate Medicare for price hikes that exceed inflation, caps seniors’ out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 per month, and makes adult vaccines available to Medicare enrollees at no cost.
NBC News: “Major drug companies including Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb have committed to participate in Medicare drug price negotiations with the federal government, the Biden administration said Tuesday. … The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services named the first 10 prescription drugs subject to price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act a little over a month ago.”
Axios: “The Biden administration is set to announce the first batch of prescription drugs that will be subject to new price negotiations with Medicare, kicking off formal discussions with drugmakers who are fiercely challenging the effort.”
Kaiser Family Foundation: “The Inflation Reduction Act requires drug manufacturers to pay a rebate to the federal government if prices for single-source drugs and biologicals covered under Medicare Part B and nearly all covered drugs under Part D increase faster than the rate of inflation (CPI-U).”
Kaiser Family Foundation: “The Inflation Reduction Act limits monthly cost sharing for insulin products to no more than $35 for Medicare beneficiaries.”
CNN: “Medicare enrollees can now get additional vaccines at no cost, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Before this year, vaccines for Covid-19, the flu, pneumonia and hepatitis B, for higher risk patients, were covered by Medicare Part B with no cost sharing. Now, all adult vaccines covered by Medicare Part D that are recommended by a federal advisory committee on immunization are available to enrollees at no cost.”
Health.com: “[The Inflation Reduction Act] caps Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket spending under the Medicare Part D benefit, first by eliminating coinsurance above the catastrophic threshold in 2024 and then by adding a $2,000 cap on spending in 2025.”
Trump and his allies are hellbent on getting rid of the Inflation Reduction Act — a move that would raise the cost of prescription drugs for millions of Americans.
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.”
Insider: “Project 2025 and the elimination of the Inflation Reduction Act have been championed by several conservative organizations, all led by the Heritage Foundation, a major conservative think tank.”
And Trump has never let up his all-out assault on millions of Americans’ access to health care.
Daily Beast: “Trump Revives Plan to Dismantle Obamacare if Elected in 2024”
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!”
Jon Favreau: “If Trump wins, 40 million people could lose their health care, and insurance companies would get to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. If Biden wins, that…won’t happen.”
On the Hill, Trump’s MAGA minions are open to reviving his plans to repeal the ACA.
Dana Bash, CNN: “Let’s talk about the 2024 campaign trail. Donald Trump called Obamacare a disaster last night in Iowa after reiterating his calls to repeal it. You of course voted to repeal Obamacare when Trump was president. Do you think that this is a winning issue right now? Would you like to see another vote again?
Graham: “Yeah. Good question. This is what we tried to do when Trump was president. Let’s block grant the money.”
Axios: “‘I think Obamacare has been one of the biggest deceptions on the American people,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). ‘I mean just look at your health care premiums.’ But he added he would ‘be interested to hear exactly how’ Trump would approach repeal.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who’s in line to run the Finance Committee if the GOP retakes the Senate, said he’s open to plans that were similar to the 2017 repeal and replace bills.”