Biden stumps for lower drug costs in Nevada speech: ‘More popular than I am’
Haisten Willis
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President Joe Biden promoted his efforts to lower prescription drug prices Wednesday afternoon, saying, “it’s going to change the way drugs are priced.”
Speaking in Las Vegas, Nevada, Biden’s talk followed the release of new data from the Biden administration showing the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act on healthcare costs.
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“All Americans deserve peace of mind that if illness strikes or they have an accident in their family, they can get the care they need and they can afford the care they need,” Biden said. “The truth is, too many folks lie in bed staring at the ceiling wondering what they would do if something happened.”
Biden said that 3.4 million seniors and people with disabilities could have saved an average of $70 per person had the Inflation Reduction Act been in effect in 2021. The act also allowed Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drugs for seniors and capped the cost of insulin at $35.
“The result of the law is that seniors on Medicare get common vaccines for things like tetanus, whooping cough, shingles, they get them for free now,” Biden said. “That used to cost them up to $200 per shot.”
Beginning April 1, seniors may see out-of-pocket costs for a number of “Part B” prescription drugs decrease by $2 to as much as $390 per average dose, per a White House fact sheet.
The speech on lowering prescription drug costs comes after the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that inflation dropped to a 4.6% annual rate in February, an indication that inflationary pressures are abating in the face of the Federal Reserve’s campaign to slow economywide spending by hiking interest rates.
Biden was introduced by a Nevada diabetic who said his insulin costs were reduced by half thanks to the president’s actions.
The president, as he’s done in almost all of his recent speeches, lashed out at the GOP, saying the party wants to take healthcare away from people.
“These MAGA Republicans, they’re just different,” Biden said. “They continue to be determined to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It’s hard to believe, but they’ve already voted to change or get rid of the ACA 50 times since it passed. They’ve failed every time.”
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He finished by saying the programs he’s proposing are broadly popular.
“There’s nothing radical about what I’m proposing,” Biden said. “And if you look at the polling data, it’s overwhelmingly popular what we’re proposing. As a matter of fact, it’s a hell of a lot more popular than I am.”