Washington DC — Today, Protect Our Care enters the final Inflation Reduction Act theme week, which focuses on how the bill works to drive down health care costs for patients with cancer. Cancer is among the most expensive diseases to treat, forcing patients to pay thousands of dollars a year just to stay alive — and that’s if they are lucky enough to pay for care at all. Big drug companies have hiked the cost of cancer medications year after year, but that stops with the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices and stops price hikes and caps out-of-pocket costs for seniors. Additionally, the historic legislation reduces premium costs for millions of Americans, ensuring people have access to affordable cancer screenings and treatment.
“The Inflation Reduction Act is a godsend for the millions of Americans battling cancer and other serious diseases,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “It is unconscionable that patients and their families are forced to worry about paying the bills while grappling with everything that comes with a cancer diagnosis. Now, thanks to President Biden and Democrats in Congress, and no thanks to a single Republican, relief is on the way to help folks pay for their prescription drugs, lower their premium costs, and give them peace of mind knowing they can access the care they need.”
Throughout the week, Protect Our Care will continue to release fact sheets and host nationwide events with elected officials, storytellers, and health care advocates to highlight the Inflation Reduction Act’s critical measures to drive down health care and prescription drug costs.
Inflation Reduction Act Themed Weeks:
- Week 1: GOP Accountability. Week one focuses on how every Republican lawmaker in Congress stood by Big Pharma and other special interests and voted against lower health care costs for the American people.
- Week 2: Seniors. Week two is bringing attention to the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions to lower prescription drug costs for millions of seniors.
- Week 3: Lower Health Care Premiums. Week three focuses on how millions of Americans will save on their health care premiums thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Week 4: Cancer. The final week highlights how patients fighting serious diseases like cancer stand to save thousands of dollars a year on their health care costs.
FACT SHEET: The Inflation Reduction Act Lowers Costs For Americans With Cancer
The Inflation Reduction Act will drastically reduce the cost of prescription drugs for Americans enrolled in Medicare’s Part D drug benefit by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, preventing drug companies from raising prices faster than the rate of inflation, and capping out-of-pocket spending on drugs to $2,000 a year for Medicare beneficiaries. This bill also extends enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to allow more Americans to afford coverage and help reduce racial, income, and geographic disparities in health care and save lives. Millions of cancer patients and survivors will feel the direct financial impacts of affordable prescription drugs and health insurance from this bill.
By The Numbers:
- 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries who face high prices for cancer treatments don’t fill their prescriptions.
- Medicare spent $5.4 billion on a cancer treatment drug Revlimid in 2020 alone.
- 1.4 million Medicare patients spend more than $2,000 on medications each year, including people who need high-cost cancer drugs
- Premium tax credits extended in the Inflation Reduction Act will allow 13 million people with pre-existing conditions, including cancer, to save money on their insurance
Read the full fact sheet here.