Biden and Harris celebrate landmark deal to lower drug prices

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Thursday presented themselves as the champions of American adults in the David-and-Goliath battle against big pharmaceutical companies, at a joint event that offered a deal of the importance of lowering the price of prescription drugs.

“Finally we won great chemistry,” said the US president, sharing the stage with his deputy for the first time since dropping his re-election bid at the end of July and being replaced by Harris. the Democratic candidate.

The event, which came after a morning announcement about new lower drug prices for beneficiaries of Medicare, the government’s health insurance plan for seniors, was an opportunity of convincing voters that their administration has helped reduce costs after years of high prices.

Health care, especially the high cost of prescription drugs, is a major concern of US voters. Biden had a slight lead over Donald Trump for his platform all year before dropping out of the race.

Harris spoke first, calling Biden “our extraordinary president”, as the crowd, packed into the gym at Prince George’s Community College, rose to its feet to applaud the president. “Thank you, Joe,” they chanted in appreciation of — according to several attendees — his record and his decision to step aside to pass the torch to Harris.

Biden called Harris an “amazing partner” and said he would “make a hell of a president”.

Biden, seeking to cement his legacy in the final months of his presidency, celebrated the drug decriminalization deal as a fulfillment of long-fought and long-sought legislative ambitions, as he watched to Harris to ensure that his policies last.

“And all of us in this room will always stand up to big pharma,” Biden said. “I fought too hard to give up now.”

Medicare has reached agreements with the manufacturers of all 10 drugs selected for drug price negotiations.

That means the prices of these ten drugs will be reduced by 40% to 80%.

And my people, this is only the first ten.

Let’s stop here. pic.twitter.com/nFi8FcFE3Z

– President Biden (@POTUS) August 15, 2024

Harris’s success as a presidential candidate may depend, in part, on how voters perceive the broader economic management plan he helped craft as vice president.

“We finally addressed a long-standing issue that for years had been one of the biggest challenges in this case, which was that Medicare was prohibited by law from negotiating low drug prices. , and those costs were passed on to adults,” Harris said. But not more.

The 10 drugs under discussion, among them widely used blood thinners and diabetes drugs, are expected to save $6bn for Medicare, the largest health insurance program that covers Americans over the age of 65, and those with certain disabilities, the administration said. Seniors should save $1.5bn directly in out-of-pocket costs.

The negotiated tariffs, which go into effect in 2026, were authorized by the Affordable Care Act, one of Biden’s signature legislative achievements that passed without a single vote. Republic. In fact, he was the vice president who made various choices during his tenure as president of the Senate.

Before Biden and Harris spoke, administration officials and Maryland politicians celebrated the deal while regaling the crowd with witty references to Harris’ candidacy.

“The president is a great honor for him,” retired Maryland senator Ben Cardin gushed in his remarks, praising Harris for helping pass the Democrats’ health care and climate change bills.

Biden, who at the same time presented his record in office and played pass-the-torch, warned that if he is given a second term, Trump – whom the president derided as “a boy the one we’re fighting, what’s his name? Donald Dump?” – could revoke Medicare’s authority to negotiate drug prices. He named a growing conservative policy agenda, Project 2025, that Trump has tried to back away from.

“Let me tell you what our 2025 Plan is: beat the hell out of them,” Biden said, to applause.

Republican lawmakers have been highly critical of the Biden administration’s move, arguing that government-negotiated drug prices will stifle innovation and keep life-saving drugs from being brought to market.

In a joint statement, House Republicans accused Biden of “price fixing”.

“Make no mistake, price fixing has failed in every sector and in every state where it has been tried,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican leadership team. “The Biden-Harris administration says it wants to lower prices for families, but their plan to fix drug prices has only achieved two things: raising the cost of health care and destroying American medical science. “

The double act drew a raucous audience, and hundreds of people waited in the summer heat to witness the last act of the president and the ascension of the vice president.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Biden said, noting that the first time he introduced legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices was as a young senator shortly after he was elected, in 1972.

He said: “For the longest time I was very young because I was only 29 years old when I was elected.” “Now I am very old.”

The negotiated costs, which take effect in 2026, are expected to save billions of dollars for the Medicare program that is paid for by taxpayers. But they will lead to out-of-pocket savings for only a fraction of the millions of older Americans who take drugs, according to the survey. Health care costs in the US have been rising for decades, with Americans spending upwards of $13,000 a year on medical services and medications.

The law already limits the out-of-pocket cost of insulin to $35 a month for Medicare patients. It also requires a $2,000 out-of-pocket allowance for drug use.

Earlier this week, Harris and Biden took part in a cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East. They also appeared together in a truck at Joint Base Andrews to welcome US citizens wrongfully detained in Russia.

On the campaign trail, the economy and the cost of living are always top issues for voters, as Democrats seek to convince them that the president’s economic policies have had an impact on their pockets. Democrats cheered Wednesday’s news of lower inflation. Consumer prices rose 2.9% in July, falling below 3% for the first time since 2021, new government data showed. But Americans continue to be squeezed by high rent and shopping costs.

On Friday, Harris will travel to North Carolina to deliver an economic policy speech, during which his campaign says he will call for a federal ban on grocery price hikes. Although Trump had an economic advantage over Biden, recent polls suggest that Harris has erased much of his early lead.

Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, introduced Biden and Harris, calling them the 46th and 47th presidents of the United States, which sparked chants of “48” – a promising sign for the star rising Democratic.

Linda Hunt, 80, said she rarely attends political events, but she came to see history.

“I came to pay my respects to him – that’s the main thing but I also wanted to see and hear him in person,” he said. “It was history.”