The Inflation Reduction Act Starts Taking on Big Pharma

This is what good government looks like.

Photo by Etactics Inc on Unsplash

Do you or someone you know take one of the following prescription drugs?

• Jardiance, Januvia, Farxiga, Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen, NovoLog PenFill to treat diabetes 

• Eliquis or Xarelto to treat blood clots

• Stelara or Enbrel for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis

• Entresto for heart failure

• Imbruvica for blood cancer

If so, prepare to pay less in out-of-pocket-costs than you’ve been paying.

Yes, less.

If you’re a Medicare recipient with diabetes, how does reducing your current out-of-pocket costs to $35 per month sound?

Thanks to a key provision in the Inflation Reduction Act President Biden signed last year, Medicare is now permitted to start negotiating for more affordable pharmaceutical drugs.

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1696611428914872548

13 million families covered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will see health insurance costs decrease by an average of $800 a year.

And that, as then-Vice President Biden said to President Obama after the ACA was passed, is a “big f*&$!%! deal”.

https://twitter.com/SenateDems/status/1696625465585225971

While negotiations will conclude next year and new costs will not go into effect until January 1, 2026, this is a major step in reining in the greed that has dominated the pharmaceutical industry and its obscene lobbying efforts responsible for pouring over $700 million over the past two years into trying to undermine the law.

On Tuesday, the president explained:

Big Pharma is charging Americans more than three times what they charge other countries, simply because they could. I think it’s outrageous. That’s why these negotiations matter. Reducing the cost of these 10 additional drugs alone will help more than 9 million Americans. And by September 2024, HHS, Health and Human Services, is going to publish the prices it negotiated. 

https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1696596527718994148

Those who rely on medication that did not make the initial list will still benefit as early as next year from the accrued Medicare savings aiming to cut thousands per year in out-of-pocket costs for many seniors by increasing the Part-D drug benefit.

This is projected to help more than nine million people save $100 billion over the next decade.

It is important not to ignore the fact that not a single republican voted for this. All decided it was more politically advantageous to side with the pharmaceutical lobby showering republican lawmakers with cash than with their constituents, many of whom are senior citizens and spend more on lifesaving drugs than anyone in any other industrialized country.

This is what good government looks like.

For more information about the Inflation Reduction Act and how it’s following through on providing the most robust infrastructure investment in almost a hundred years, visit build.gov.