LAS VEGAS (AP) – President Joe Biden will highlight the stark differences in how Democrats are tackling skyrocketing drug prices compared to their Republican counterparts as he gears up for an expected re-election announcement.
In a speech yesterday in Las Vegas that could serve as a preview of the campaign ahead, Biden planned to put the issue of lowering drug costs at the centre of his policy and political agenda.
The White House thinks it has a winning message in showcasing legislation passed last year that is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars and lower the cost of drugs for the roughly 84 million Americans who rely on Medicare.
“These kind of savings will give people a little bit more breathing room, more comfort as they decide to go to the grocery store to buy their food, more ability to pay their rent, or maybe it’s just to do something decent for their families,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
Biden plans to talk up how his administration is rolling out several parts of that law, passed in a Democratic-controlled Congress last year, that cap the price of insulin, make most vaccines free and allow the federal government to negotiate deals on a handful of pharmaceutical drugs for Medicare enrolees.
The federal government expects to see significant savings from those negotiations and to make money from a rule that requires drug makers to send Medicare a check when they raise drug prices higher than inflation.
“Not only is it the right thing to do for people, it cuts the deficit by USD160 billion,” he said.
Already, the legislation caps the price of insulin at USD35 for disabled and older Americans who rely on Medicare. Biden has proposed extending that cap to all Americans, but that plan faces an uphill battle. Efforts to pass laws capping the price of insulin for uninsured Americans or those with private insurance failed in the Democratic-controlled Congress last year.
Biden, however, has still championed last year’s bill as a success for the millions of Americans who aren’t on Medicare. Drug companies, facing public pressure after tripling their prices for the life-saving drug over the last two decades, have started to voluntarily lower the cost of insulin.
Drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced on Tuesday it was cutting the cost of insulin to about USD72 a vial, on the heels of an announcement from rival Eli Lilly that it would start selling its generic for USD25.
“This builds on the important progress we made last year when I signed a law to cap insulin at USD35 for seniors,” Biden said in a statement on Tuesday on Novo Nordisk’s announcement.
Last week, Biden promised to fend off financial challenges facing Medicare by instead raising the Medicare tax rate from 3.8 per cent to five per cent on those with annual incomes of USD400,000 or more.
Republicans leaders – who have publicly disavowed accusations that they’ll the cut the programme – have yet to coalesce around a plan to address Medicare’s impending shortfalls.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters last week that Biden’s plan to raise taxes for Medicare “will not see the light of day”.