As the Democratic National Convention kicks off, Protect Our Care celebrates President Biden’s health care legacy. During his Presidency, Joe Biden has built on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), safeguarding its consumer protections and boosting access to affordable health care for millions of Americans by lowering costs and addressing health inequities. He signed the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, lowering prescription costs and premiums, and he has fought to protect and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid. Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“Joe Biden’s health care legacy is a BFD. There would not be an Inflation Reduction Act without Joe Biden – he created it, he fought aggressively for it for months, he refused to give up, and his legislative skills made it happen. As President, he built on the success of the ACA, standing up to greedy drug companies, lowering the cost of drugs and health insurance and expanding affordable health care to millions of people across America. He kept America safe during the pandemic and launched the cancer moonshot program. He has paved the way for a future where every American has the health care they need and where health care is a right, not a privilege.”
“Joe Biden has always been a health care champion; he sponsored a bill during his first year in the Senate establishing a Medicare drug price negotiation program and he partnered with President Obama to pass the ACA. Every American’s health care is better and more affordable today because of Joe Biden.”
The Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan:
- Protect seniors from prescription drug hikes. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, when drug companies hike prices faster than the rate of inflation, they will have to pay Medicare a rebate. This has not only saved the government billions of dollars, but it has drastically reduced out-of-pocket costs for people on Medicare. In June 2024 alone, the Biden-Harris administration announced that some seniors and people with disabilities will pay less for 64 drugs available through Medicare Part B thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s rebate program.
- Give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices, which will save taxpayers billions of dollars and lower costs for some of the most popular and expensive prescription drugs. By 2030, 80 of the most expensive prescription drugs will have lower prices because of these negotiations. This month, the Biden-Harris administration announced the new, lower prices for 10 of the highest-cost, most popular drugs taken by nearly 9 million people on Medicare who spent $3.9 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2023. In the first year alone, these newly lowered prices will save seniors $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs and will save taxpayers $6 billion, slashing the list prices of the first ten drugs by 38–79 percent. Amidst negotiations, the Biden-Harris administration has also successfully fended off lawsuit after lawsuit from big drug companies and their allies seeking to ban Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices.
- Cap drug costs for seniors. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Part D plans are required to cap annual out-of-pocket spending to $2,000 by 2025, giving more than 50 million Americans with Medicare Part D more reassurance and financial stability. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, this particularly helps seniors with serious conditions like cancer and Multiple Sclerosis. Seniors will also continue to save on insulin and vaccines.
- Cut insulin costs. The Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin prices at no more than $35 starting January 2023 — saving seniors up to $1,500 annually. In response to calls from President Biden, the three largest insulin manufacturers announced $35 monthly out-of-pocket cost caps, lowering costs of about 90% of the insulin on the market.
- Provide free vaccines for seniors. Millions of Americans enrolled in Medicare Part D have access to covered vaccines, such as shingles and Tdap, at no cost. HHS found that over 10 million people on Medicare received a free vaccine thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Lower health insurance premiums for millions of Americans. The American Rescue plan lowered costs for millions by increasing financial assistance for people who buy coverage on their own and making financial assistance more widely available to middle-class families, ensuring people purchasing coverage through the ACA marketplaces will not pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for coverage. The Inflation Reduction Act carried on those provisions, and families continue to save an average of $2,400 a year on their health insurance premiums.
- Cap the amount of money families pay for health insurance. The Inflation Reduction Act ensures families pay no more than 8.5 percent of their income towards coverage.
- Eliminate premiums for low-wage workers. The Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan ensured no American with an income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level buying their coverage on the Marketplace will pay a premium.
- Provide extra savings for low-income seniors. The Inflation Reduction Act expanded the Medicare Extra Help program, and the Biden-Harris administration announced investments in helping up to 3 million eligible seniors and people with disabilities enroll in the Extra Help program in 2023 to benefit from the program’s lower cost premiums, deductibles, and copayments.
- Expand coverage and build on public health emergency continuous coverage protections. The American Rescue Plan provided robust financial incentives for the states that have not yet implemented Medicaid expansion.
- Create a pathway to coverage for new mothers. The American Rescue Plan called on states to extend postpartum coverage under Medicaid from two months to a full year following pregnancy, when most negative health outcomes occur.
Safeguarding and Building on The Affordable Care Act
“This Is A Big F*cking Deal:” Then-Vice President Biden Championed The Affordable Care Act. In 2010, the Obama-Biden administration and Democrats in Congress passed the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, transforming the American health care system. The ACA cemented protections for more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, expanded Medicaid coverage to about 24 million people, and established affordable health care marketplaces now providing quality coverage for over 21.3 million people who buy insurance on their own. Then-Vice President Joe Biden championed the bill, telling then-President Obama, “This is a big f*cking deal.” Not only did President Biden champion the law, but he worked to strengthen it and protect it from Republican attacks:
- President Biden opened a Special Enrollment Period, allowing millions of Americans to enroll in affordable coverage. Just days into his presidency, President Biden issued an executive order reopening HealthCare.gov for a special enrollment period to help Americans gain coverage as they continue to suffer from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. 2.8 million Americans enrolled during the Special Enrollment Period (SEP), with particularly large increases in enrollment for Hispanic, Black, and American Indian and Alaska Native people.
- President Biden defended the ACA from lawsuits seeking to dismantle all or part of the law. Less than a month into his Presidency, President Biden defended the Affordable Care Act in California v. Texas, the lawsuit before the Supreme Court to completely dismantle the law. The Biden-Harris administration has also defended a major provision of the ACA that requires no-cost coverage of lifesaving preventive health care services in Braidwood Management v. Becerra.
- President Biden rolled back the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the ACA and revoke consumer protections. In his first days in office, President Biden directed federal agencies to re-examine Trump-era policies that undermine the ACA. His administration has since taken steps to revoke Trump administration actions undermining the ACA’s consumer protections. In March, the Biden-Harris administration issued a final rule to protect consumers and limit short-term junk plans that do not need to cover pre-existing conditions, often use deceptive marketing practices, and leave American families with staggering medical bills. In April, the Biden-Harris administration issued a final rule under Section 1557 of the ACA to advance health care protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, natural origin, sex, age, and disability. That same month, the Biden-Harris administration also reversed a Trump-era regulation allowing insurance companies to sell junk plans known as association health plans.
- President Biden invested millions in ACA outreach. The Biden-Harris administration made historic investments in outreach, announcing $500 million in grants over the next five years for the Navigators program. The program plays a key role in helping people across the country sign up for health care coverage through ACA marketplace plans.
- President Biden launched executive actions strengthening building on the ACA by protecting people with pre-existing conditions and making it easier for low-income enrollees. The Biden-Harris administration announced new executive actions to lower health care costs and protect people with pre-existing conditions. The new actions eliminate surprise medical bills and limit junk insurance plans that do not need to cover people with pre-existing conditions like asthma, cancer, and diabetes. In April, the administration also announced new policies to strengthen the ACA, making it easier for low-income Americans to enroll in coverage, increasing access to routine adult dental services, and setting standards for the time and distance people need to travel for appointments for in-network providers.
- President Biden expanded affordable health care to DACA recipients under the ACA. In May, the Biden-Harris administration finalized a policy to expand affordable health care to DACA recipients through the ACA. CMS estimates that this rule could lead to 100,000 previously uninsured DACA gaining coverage.
- Under President Biden, a record-breaking 21.3 million Americans signed up for affordable health care through ACA marketplaces. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration announced that a record 21.3 million Americans have signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces – over nine million more than when President Biden took office. 80 percent of enrollees were also able to find a health plan through the Marketplace for $10 or less per month thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act lowering health insurance premiums.
- President Biden fixed the “family glitch,” expanding ACA marketplace eligibility to over one million Americans. In October 2022, the Biden-Harris administration issued a final rule to fix the “family glitch,” which blocked millions of families from accessing affordable coverage through the ACA marketplaces – expanding coverage and lowering health care costs for more than one million Americans.
Strengthening and Protecting Medicaid and Medicare
President Biden Has Worked To Strengthen and Protect Medicaid and Medicare. Throughout his Presidency, President Biden has made protecting and strengthening Medicaid and Medicare – which cover hundreds of millions of Americans – a cornerstone of his health agenda. During his tenure, President Biden has:
- Protected Medicaid from budget cuts.
- Cracked down on Trump’s disastrous paperwork requirements.
- Pushed to make it easier for millions of eligible people to enroll in Medicaid, reducing red tape and simplifying applications, verifications, enrollment, and renewals for health care coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
- Signed legislation guaranteeing 12-month continuous coverage for kids on Medicaid and CHIP and announced a rule standardizing enrollment and renewal processes nationwide. The rule also applied consumer protections from the ACA to Medicaid and CHIP enrollees, like banning lifetime limits and waiting periods.
- Fought to protect people on Medicaid from disenrollment. In September 2023, the Biden-Harris announced that nearly 500,000 children and adults who were improperly disenrolled from Medicaid and CHIP would regain their coverage thanks to their actions.
- Established national Medicaid and CHIP standards for patient wait times and travel distance, ensuring that people who rely on Medicaid have meaningful access to health care services including primary care, behavioral health and substance use disorder services, and OB/GYN care. The Biden-Harris administration also announced minimum staffing standards at nursing homes to promote safety and high-quality care for 1.2 million seniors and people with disabilities.
- Pushed for prescription drug transparency in Medicaid.
- Cracked down on Medicare Advantage plan providers publishing misleading ads.
Lowering Costs and Improving Health Care
President Biden Has Fought To Lower Drug Costs, Including Inhalers. In December 2023, the Biden-Harris administration announced plans to lower prices for certain high-priced medicines by developing a policy for using federal “march-in rights” to license drugs to other manufacturers who could sell them for less in order to stop price gouging and boost competition between drug manufacturers to lower prices for patients. That same month, the Biden-Harris administration announced a new policy to ensure the best value for taxpayers by establishing a fair pricing standard for medical products purchased by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. In March, President Biden hosted an event to celebrate lower inhaler costs following the FTC’s recent crackdown on drug companies that use improper patents to keep the price of inhalers too high. In response, two drugmakers have capped out-of-pocket costs for some top-selling inhalers at $35 per month.
President Biden Has Fought To Improve Health Equity and Access to Health Care. President Biden has taken steps during his presidency to address health inequities, issuing several executive orders and new agency rules. On his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order calling for the federal government to advance an ambitious, whole-of-government equity agenda. In April 2022, he signed another executive order focused on continued efforts to expand access to affordable, quality health coverage, and in February 2023, President Biden signed a new executive order aiming to strengthen and reaffirm the administration’s commitment to deliver equity. In September 2023, the Biden-Harris administration released a historic proposed rule that strengthens prohibitions against discrimination for people with disabilities in any program or activity receiving funding from HHS.
President Biden Has Worked Tirelessly To Address Maternal Health. President Biden has worked to address the maternal mortality crisis and invest in maternal health. In June 2022, the Biden-Harris administration released a whole-of-government blueprint for combating maternal mortality and morbidity. In March, President Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to prioritize women’s health research, including studying conditions like menopause, arthritis, and heart disease and in April, the Biden-Harris administration invested $105 million in funding to support more than 100 community-based organizations working to improve maternal and infant health.
President Biden Has Prioritized Reproductive Health Care As MAGA Republicans Rolled Out Abortion Bans and Pushed For Limited Contraception Access. In the wake of the MAGA Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and rolling back nearly 50 years of abortion protections, President Biden has made protecting reproductive health care a top priority. Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, President Biden signed an Executive Order seeking to protect access to reproductive health care services and defend women’s fundamental rights. He has issued executive orders strengthening access to affordable contraception and family planning services and rolling back Trump’s gag rule barring family planning providers from mentioning abortion to patients to receive Title X funding. The Biden-Harris administration also recently released new guidance reminding state Medicaid agencies that they must ensure enrollees have access to comprehensive family planning services.