US President Joe Biden, who is running for re-election with a significant emphasis on easing voters’ financial troubles, launched a push to decrease the cost of certain prescription drugs on Tuesday, a move that Big Pharma has threatened to fight in court. “Millions of Americans are forced to choose between paying for essential medications and paying for food, rent, and other necessities.” “Those days are over,” said the Democratic president in a statement.
Later, in a White House speech, Biden stated that pharmaceutical companies “hope the courts will do what Democrats in Congress won’t: protect their exorbitant profits and prevent negotiations from taking place.” The US government has chosen ten pharmaceuticals for which Medicare, the health insurance plan for individuals over 65, would be able to negotiate the price using new powers granted by last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, a major legislative package of energy transition policy and social reforms.
Previously, Medicare was unable to negotiate prescription pricing, resulting in US drug costs being greater than “any other major economy in the world,” according to Biden. According to a study, the United States pays 2.5 times more for prescription pharmaceuticals than countries such as France.
Elderly adults spent $3.4 billion out of their own wallets last year to purchase pharmaceuticals
According to the US government, elderly adults spent $3.4 billion out of their own wallets last year to purchase the ten pharmaceuticals on the list, which include treatments for blood clots, diabetes, heart problems, psoriasis, and blood malignancies. Officials at the White House would not say how much cost-cutting they expected from the discussions, but Biden touted the government’s ability to obtain medicine prices for veterans that were “50 percent less than Medicare.” The federal government can continue to add more pharmaceuticals to its negotiating list each year under the IRA.
The laboratory that manufactures it, Bristol Myers Squibb, says that Medicare beneficiaries who are prescribed this drug “are currently able to get it with relatively low out-of-pocket costs at an average of $55 per month,” and claims that Biden’s initiative puts that “at risk.” The Johnson & Johnson group, which produces two of the drugs on the list, said that the reform would “constrain medical innovation, limit patient access and choice, and negatively impact the overall quality of care.”
With the price change not taking effect until January 2026, Biden’s immediate political benefit is doubtful. The 80-year-old president, whose reelection bid has lacked passion, is depending on announcements like Tuesday’s, as well as a measure to freeze the price of insulin for many Americans at $35 per month, to support his campaign. Biden is known for his unwavering optimism, and on Tuesday he slammed Republican presidential hopefuls, particularly former President Donald Trump, for claiming that the United States is in “decline.” “Better days are coming,” he said.
