President Biden and Senator Sanders Team Up to Highlight Medication Cost Savings

President Biden is heading to New Hampshire to talk about cuts in drug prices along with Senator Bernie Sanders. He'll visit Concord Community College to share a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. The report says nearly 1. 5 million Medicare users saved almost $1 billion on prescription drugs in the first half of 2024. This is all thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in 2022. This act put a limit on how much Medicare users pay out of pocket for drugs. Next year, that limit will go even lower, from $3, 500 to $2, 000 per year.

An expert, Leighton Ku, noted that lawmakers have long debated but not done much about drug prices because the pharmaceutical industry is a strong lobby. So, it's notable that the Biden administration worked with Congress to get this done. Before this, the administration had already negotiated prices for 10 common drugs and capped insulin costs at $35 per month for many patients. The White House also proposed a plan so that private insurers would cover over-the-counter birth control without any cost to the patient. Senator Sanders praised the administration's efforts but said more needs to be done, and he thinks no one in America should pay more for drugs than people in Europe or Canada do. President Biden is also expected to visit a campaign office during his trip to New Hampshire.

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