Thanks to provisions from the Biden-Harris administration, Inflation Reduction MethodMedicare can now negotiate with drug companies to lower drug costs, the administration said Thursday. Announce the results The results of the first round of negotiations were nothing short of stunning.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris haven’t gotten the credit they deserve. Constant focus ~ in Drug price reduction. But this important announcement is likely to remind people of this important work and is an opportune moment to further accelerate Harris’s work. Surge work out.
In this initial negotiation, HHS focused on 10 drugs commonly prescribed to Medicare patients. These products treat heart disease, cancer, diabetes, blood clots, and kidney disease. Some are prescribed to more than a million Americans and have names familiar to anyone who has seen their advertisements: Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, and others.
HHS also did not offer a small discount on this expensive product. Discounts ranged from 38% to 79%. Medicare It is expected to save $6 billion. Providing these drugs could save seniors up to $1.5 billion in direct costs.
This is also only the first round of negotiations, with another round expected soon. The savings from these negotiations will mean huge short-term savings for consumers and even bigger long-term savings for taxpayers.
The new rates are not set to take effect until 2026, but that will likely depend on Harris winning the election in November.
The Republican Party Attack repeatedly The idea behind negotiating a lower price is this: rolling stone Note, this strategy has been widely successful in other countries as well. Instead, as Joan McCarter of Daily Kos wrote in 2023, The Republican Party has sided with Big Pharma.It portrays the government as a bully who is trying to force companies to lower their costs, and argues that Medicare should pay whatever drug companies ask.
“The Republicans have to figure out how to handle this,” said former Trump adviser Joe Grogan. Politico.
In fact, last week a group of 18 House Republicans, including many Biden wins the states he won in 2020Written with a pen letter House Speaker Mike Johnson attacked the IRA as a “deeply flawed bill,” failing to acknowledge the money Americans could save every day on prescription drugs.
Despite opposition from Republican politicians, the idea of negotiating to lower drug prices is very popular. KFF Survey DataEighty-one percent of American adults support the government negotiating some drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, including 77 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
no way Navigator Research June 2024 Poll A majority of Americans in key battleground states, including 50 percent of Republicans, support allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices. Insulin limit $35 For Medicare beneficiaries, it was also part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Donald Trump recently claimed responsibility for lowering insulin prices. As usual, Trump is lying.
like statistics According to reports, Biden and Harris did not get credit for this successful effort to lower drug prices. Every Republican voted against the inflation reduction bill, Biden pushed hard for it, and Democrats supported it. Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. Despite efforts to pass the bill, only 48 percent of voters 65 and older are aware of the price negotiation plan. Recently released KFF poll
It should have been a big topic in the press.
But that wasn’t the case. And the widespread failure to report on these issues could help turn this big Medicare win into a big campaign boost for Harris. According to Harvard professor emeritus Robert Blendon, this is the perfect time for Harris to introduce herself to retirees.
“It’s important that she gets credit for the future, as opposed to Biden getting credit for the past,” Blendon told Stat.
It may not be fair, Biden said. I worked hard On that issue. But as long as it helps defeat Trump, Joe likely won’t mind sharing the credit.
