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John,
It’s been twenty years since George W. Bush signed a Medicare prescription drug program into law. But it came with a cost -- a big cost. The law was a gigantic, decades-long handout to Big Pharma, as it prohibited Medicare (unlike any other insurance program) from negotiating drug costs with the manufacturers.
Now, thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare is finally able to negotiate drug prices. Without delay, the Biden administration started negotiations on the prices of 10 life-saving drugs, including blood thinners and diabetes treatments.
This is a great start. But it’s not enough. It’s time to extend these negotiations beyond just these first 10 drugs. Medicare must be able to negotiate the price of all the essential drugs it covers.
Sign on today to show your support for making all drug prices negotiable! Tell President Biden to expand the Medicare drug cost negotiations beyond these first 10 drugs.
In just one year, 2022, Americans with Medicare Part D paid a total of $3.4 billion dollars out of pocket, just for these first 10 drugs on the list. Bringing the Big Pharma juggernaut under control is no small task, and it must start somewhere. Let’s be sure it does not end here.
Outcomes of the current, 2023 negotiations will be published in 2024 and reflected in 2027 drug prices. After this, the Inflation Reduction Act calls for talks on 15 more drugs in 2024, 15 more in 2025, and 20 per year thereafter. This incremental expansion is a tremendous improvement over no negotiations, but it’s still not enough.
For healthcare to be affordable to everyone, all essential medications must be subject to Medicare cost conversations. This is a matter of social justice. Bringing Big Pharma to the table sets the standard that the pharmaceutical industry cannot continue putting profits before patients.
Sign on now to let President Biden know: we must not stop at only a few medications. Press for a healthcare system that puts the industry on notice: the health of patients must always come first.
Thank you for helping make affordable health care a reality for all Americans!
- Amanda
Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund
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