ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act Saves Medicare Enrollees Nearly $1 Billion in the First Half of 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 24, 2024
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ICYMI: BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION’S INFLATION REDUCTION ACT SAVES MEDICARE ENROLLEES NEARLY $1 BILLION IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2024
The Biden-Harris Administration continues to deliver historic savings for seniors, fulfilling their promise to lower healthcare costs and strengthen Medicare
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it this week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released data showing that nearly 1.5 million people with Medicare Part D saved almost $1 billion on prescription drugs in just the first half of 2024, thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Vice President Harris cast the deciding vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, ensuring its historic measures to lower prescription drug costs and expand Medicare benefits became law.
In response to this accomplishment, Building Back Together Director of Strategic Initiatives, Paydon Miller, released the following statement:
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are delivering meaningful, life-changing savings for Medicare enrollees. With nearly $1 billion saved in out-of-pocket prescription drug costs in just the first half of 2024, this administration is proving their unwavering commitment to lowering healthcare costs for seniors and ensuring that every American has access to the medications they need.
“The Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug cap is not just a promise kept — it’s a critical investment in the health and financial security of millions of seniors across the country. Starting in 2024, those facing high drug costs have seen their out-of-pocket costs capped at $3,500, and next year, that cap will lower to $2,000 for all Medicare Part D enrollees. These savings will provide much-needed relief to families and individuals who have been forced to choose between life-saving prescriptions and other essentials for far too long.
“While MAGA Republicans continue to try to repeal this landmark legislation, raising drug prices for seniors, President Biden and Vice President Harris are standing strong, ensuring no senior has to bear the burden of sky-high drug prices alone. The HHS data released this week underscores that their fight for affordable healthcare isn’t over, and Building Back Together will continue to stand with them as they fight for the health, wellbeing and financial stability of the American people.”
For more information about how the Inflation Reduction Act is lowering prescription drug costs for people with Medicare, visit LowerDrugCosts.gov and in Spanish, MedicamientosBajoPrecio.gov.
See notable coverage of yesterday’s announcements below:
CBS News: Biden highlights drug price reductions with New Hampshire visit
The savings are a result of the cap on out-of-pocket drug costs put in place by the Inflation Reduction Act, a signature piece of legislation the president signed into law in 2022. The law capped out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $3,500 per year, and next year the cap will go down to $2,000 per year.
“Congress has talked a lot about this, but just never got much done. And partly it had to do with the fact that Pharma is such a big lobbyist,” Leighton Ku, a professor in the department of health policy and management at George Washington University, said in an interview with CBS News. “So the fact that the Biden administration could work with Congress to get even these marginal things done is impressive.”
The Biden administration had previously negotiated prices for 10 widely used prescription drugs after a back-and-forth between Medicare and drug manufacturers, and capped insulin at $35 per month for many patients.
On Monday, the White House also proposed a plan that, if put into effect, would require private insurers to cover over-the-counter birth control methods at no cost to patients.
Portsmouth Herald: Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders in NH to tout reduced drug costs, boost Kamala Harris
Biden and Sanders highlighted the savings the Biden-Harris administration has created when it comes to health-care costs.
A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services shows that the Inflation Reduction Act helped save 1.5 million Medicare enrollees almost $1 billion on prescription drugs in the first half of 2024.
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“For many years there has been a lot of talk about the outrageous prices the American people are forced to pay for prescription drugs, but no action. The good news is that President Biden and Vice President Harris with the help of Democrats in Congress have acted to take on the unprecedented greed of the prescription drug industry,” Sanders said in a prepared statement. “Thanks to these efforts, no senior is paying over $35 a month for insulin. Beginning next year, no senior in America will be paying over $2,000 a year for prescription drugs. And, for the first time in history, Medicare is negotiating to lower the prices of some of the most expensive prescription drugs in America.”
Sanders and Biden repeatedly compared prescription drug prices in America to other countries, saying that America is by far the most expensive. When Biden offered to take the crowd to other countries to compare, one audience member shouted, “I’m in.”
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