President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats in Congress have taken historic action to lower health care costs and save Americans thousands of dollars a year. By passing the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats stood up to big drug companies and lowered the cost of prescription drugs and insulin. Democrats have also lowered premium costs for people who buy their own coverage and helped more Americans get affordable coverage through Medicaid. Bringing down the cost of health care gives families more breathing room and helps keep food on the table and a roof over heads for millions of people. Here’s the top five ways that the Biden-Harris administration and Democrats in Congress have lowered Americans’ health care costs:
- Seniors are saving more on drugs than ever before thanks to Medicare drug price negotiation and other cost saving measures. The Inflation Reduction Act created several measures to bring down the cost of prescription drug prices for seniors. The historic law gave Medicare the ability to negotiate drug prices for seniors. In 2023, Medicare announced the first 10 drugs that were selected for negotiation, which are taken by nearly 9 million seniors and account for 20 percent of Medicare’s annual Part D spending. The Inflation Reduction Act also capped out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors at $2,000 per year starting in 2025. When this provision goes into effect, it is estimated that nearly 19 million Americans will save an average of $400 each year. Additionally, 400,000 low-income seniors will receive more help affording prescription drugs through the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy Program. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats in Congress also stopped big drug companies from price gouging. If pharmaceutical manufacturers are found raising prices faster than the rate of inflation, they are required to pay back Medicare the difference. In January 2024, 48 drugs were required to pay rebates due to this rule.However, if Trump is re-elected in November, these cost savings will be repealed. He wants to put drug companies back in charge, raising prices on prescription drugs, and taking away Medicare’s power to negotiate lower drug prices. During Trump’s first presidency, drug prices rose faster than the rate of inflation every year he was in office. Trump returning to office would be detrimental for American seniors who rely on lowered prices on medications to afford to pay rent and put food on the table.
- Insulin is capped at $35 per month. President Biden and Democrats took on big drug companies and won. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, insulin copays for people on Medicare are capped at $35 per prescription each month, saving seniors hundreds of dollars on their health care costs. In 2020, there were more than 3.2 million insulin users on Medicare. Democrats efforts on lowering insulin costs for Medicare recipients has led to reduced prices on the market as well. Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly now cap their insulin prices for everyone at $35 a month, making up 90 percent of the insulin on the market.Trump has continuously attempted to take credit for lower insulin prices, but in reality insulin costs soared during his presidency, with insulin retailing for $300 a vial under Trump. A report found that as many as one in four of the 7.5 million Americans dependent on insulin were skipping or skimping on doses due to rising costs. Now, Trump and Republicans in Congress want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which would eliminate the $35 insulin cap for seniors on Medicare and hike the cost of prescription drugs for seniors nationwide.
- Health care premiums are lower for millions of families.Thanks to President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats in Congress, the Inflation Reduction Act extended premium tax credits to make health care more affordable for millions of Americans. Over 14 million Americans are saving an average of $527 on monthly health insurance premiums and 80 percent of enrollees are able to find a health plan through the Marketplace for $10 or less per month. Premium tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2025. Democrats are trying to ensure Americans can continue saving by making these tax credits permanent.Republicans want to end tax credits that help make health affordable for lower- and middle-income Americans, but they support giving more tax breaks to the wealthy and big corporations, including drug and insurance companies. Ending these tax credits would mean a typical 60-year-old couple making $80,000 per year would see their premiums triple to over $24,000 and a family of four making $125,000 would see an average increase of $7,676.
- Free vaccinations are now available for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries. Thanks to President Biden and Democrats in Congress, 50.5 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries can now get their shingles vaccinations free of charge. In 2020, nearly 4 million Medicare beneficiaries received the two-part shingles vaccination. With a single shot of Shingrix costing $212, seniors on Medicare Part D are saving over $400 on average compared to vaccinations in 2023. Additionally, over 94 million Medicaid recipients now benefit from better vaccination coverage thanks to The Inflation Reduction Act. Medicaid and CHIP state programs are now required to cover vaccines recommended by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without out-of-pocket costs. More accessible vaccinations will particularly help low-income families who rely on Medicaid, many of whom are people of color and people with disabilities.Republicans’ plan to overturn the Inflation Reduction Act would put the cost of shingles vaccinations back on seniors and would create a much larger problem for those on Medicaid. With over 33 percent of Americans developing shingles at some point in their life, accessibility to vaccinations is paramount as people continue to age. While complications or death from shingles is not common, seniors with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable, with 30 percent of shingles hospitalizations occurring within this population. Republicans’ plan to gut Medicaid means millions of Americans would lose their health coverage, including seniors with long-term care needs, children in low-income families, people with disabilities and people suffering from mental illnesses.
- American families are protected from surprise medical bills and have access to affordable coverage. Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration took additional actions to ensure more Americans can afford their health care. From implementing rules to protect Americans from surprise medical bills to fixing the “family glitch”, more Americans are saving money while getting the care they need. Since January 1, 2022, Americans have been protected from surprise medical bills from emergency room visits, non-emergency out-of-network visits at in-network facilities, and air ambulance services for out-of-network providers. These new rules are already preventing 1 million surprise medical bills per month. Previous to these rules going into effect, surprise bills cost people an average of $750 to $2,600.
President Biden and Vice President Harris also fixed “family glitch,” allows more lower-income families to qualify for subsidized health coverage under the ACA, even if a family member qualifies for affordable, employee-only insurance. Prior to the Biden-Harris administration’s fix, the “family glitch” left 5 million low-income Americans ineligible for tax credits to reduce the cost of their insurance.Additionally, legislation signed by President Biden guarantees that kids can stay on Medicaid and CHIP for at least a full year before their parents must apply to renew their coverage. Health care coverage throughout childhood is an important indicator of success in school and in adulthood. Medicaid eligibility during childhood lowers the high school dropout rate, raises college enrollment, and increases four-year college attainment. For each additional year of Medicaid eligibility as a child, adults by age 28 had higher earnings and made $533 additional cumulative tax payments due to their higher incomes. President Biden and Vice President Harris are also doing everything in their power to stop GOP efforts to throw Americans off of Medicaid.Trump and Republicans have failed the American people time and time again. They are more worried about putting profits over people. During his 4 years in office, Trump tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, throw families off of Medicaid, and raise costs on the American people. If Trump is reelected, these trends will only continue. Trump is fully committed to slashing Medicaid’s budget by over 50 percent. Millions would lose coverage with one in four Americans counting on Medicaid for access to health care. The program serves people from all backgrounds, including children, mothers, people of color, working families, people with disabilities, rural Americans, and seniors – all of whom would be at risk if Trump comes to power.