US President Joe Biden speaks about lowering health care costs, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, Aug. 29, 2023.
Saul Loeb AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is putting a priority on reducing individual health care costs as he seeks re-election in a country where medical spending costs 18.3% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“Son, we’ve been fighting Big Pharma for a long time,” Biden said Tuesday from the White House. “I promise you I’m gonna have your back and I’ll never stop fighting for you on this issue, neither will Kamala.”
On Tuesday, the White House announced the 10 prescription drugs that will be subject to the first-ever Medicare price negotiations, which take effect in 2026. The 10 drugs account for $50.5 billion, or about 20%, of total Part D prescriptions medicine cost between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“Big Pharma [is] charging Americans more than three times what they charge other countries just because they can,” Biden said. “I think it’s outrageous. That’s why these negotiations are so important.”
Biden’s challenge over the next 14 months will be to convince voters that he is lowering everyday costs for them despite high interest rates and inflation that has yet to return to pre- pandemic.
This task is complicated by the fact that many of Biden’s legislative and policy achievements will take years to implement, so they will not have an immediate, tangible impact on people’s lives. However, Democrats argue that the president should be given a second term to, in Biden’s words, “finish the job.”
Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said the news is “what delivering results looks like,” but warned it could backfire if Biden is not re-elected.
“That development is on line in 2024,” Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “The choice in this election is between a president focused on you, and a slate of candidates committed to extreme policies that prioritize their wealthy donors.”
The message that came out of the White House on Tuesday was that, thanks to Biden, Americans no longer have to pay the world’s highest prices for drugs.
“Big Pharma and their Republican allies in Congress have finally lost – to Joe Biden and Bidenomics,” Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a memo.
The careful presentation of Tuesday’s Medicare announcement, complete with side events and media briefings, underscored how important health care is to Biden’s re-election campaign, which is already underway.
Biden’s signature domestic legislation, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, caps out-of-pocket spending on insulin at $35 per month for people on Medicare, and individual out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs. medicine at $2,000 annually. Additionally, the administration cut costs for hearing aids by making them over the counter and reduced the cost of insurance through the Affordable Care Act through tax subsidies.
It’s all part of Biden’s emphasis on addressing so-called “kitchen sink” issues that resonate with swing voters in battleground states.
Next, the president said he plans to expand the insulin cost cap to cover privately insured Americans and make the ACA’s tax subsidies permanent.
“We’ll look into it,” Biden said. “We continue to stand up to Big Pharma and we will not back down.”
