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REPORT: The MAGA Republican War on Medicare

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Chapters

Introduction
Raising Drug Prices and Premiums
Slashing Medicare Benefits
Conclusion

The MAGA Republican War on Medicare

The MAGA Project 2025 Agenda Will Raise Drug Prices and Premiums, Ban Drug Negotiation, and Slash Benefits

Introduction

The Trump-MAGA Republican Project 2025 agenda is clear: Medicare is on the chopping block. While in office, Trump attempted to slash Medicare’s budget every year and push seniors into privatized plans that line insurance company pockets at the expense of their access to care and taxpayers’ wallets. And now Trump is saying the quiet part out loud this cycle: if he wins, he will come for Medicare. Republicans have targeted Medicare cuts for decades, and they certainly have no plans to back down. The 2025 Medicare open enrollment period kicks off on October 15, and 67.5 million seniors will begin signing up for their plans. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare is better than ever. Seniors and people with disabilities will save money on prescription drugs and vaccines, with new benefits including:

  • A $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on prescription drugs starting January 1, saving nearly 19 million Americans an average of $400 each year
  • A $35 monthly copay cap on insulin for 4 million Americans on Medicare who use insulin
  • Free shingles and other essential vaccinations
  • Medicare negotiation for lower drug prices with savings starting in 2026
  • Protections from drug company price hikes thanks to inflation rebates

These new benefits are at grave risk: The cost-saving measures in the Inflation Reduction Act were passed in Congress without a single Republican vote and are under attack by Donald Trump and Republican Members of Congress. Millions of seniors finally have the breathing room they need in order to pay for other essentials like food and housing, or transportation to visit their grandchildren – but Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans want to rip it all away.

When Donald Trump was in office, he slashed $25 billion from Medicare programs. In his second term, he plans to cut a whopping $845 billion more. Trump’s friend, MAGA Republican Rick Scott even proposed sunsetting Medicare after five years. When Trump was unable to pass the most radical GOP plans for Medicare, he signed an executive order pushing seniors into expensive private plans to pad insurance company profits. Trump gave billions in tax breaks to drug and health insurance companies and executives during his first term, and wants to slash tens of billions from Medicare to pay for more tax breaks for the wealthy.

For decades, Republicans have sought cuts to Medicare. One of Donald Trump’s promises on the 2020 campaign trail was also significant cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare if he won a second term. Project 2025 builds upon these promises and offers insight into the MAGA framework for stripping Medicare coverage from seniors and people with disabilities, increasing prescription drug prices, increasing fraud throughout the system, and forcing them to pay more for their health care across the board.

If Trump and his MAGA allies get their way:

GONE: The $2,000 Annual Out-of-Pocket Limit. People enrolled in Medicare Part D will no longer have any limit to out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs. The $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cost cap starting January 1, would have saved nearly 19 million Americans an average of $400 each year.
GONE: $35 Insulin. A $35 monthly copay cap on insulin for 4 million Americans on Medicare who use insulin will no longer be in place.
GONE: Medicare Drug Price Negotiation. Medicare will lose the power to negotiate lower drug prices for 80 of the costliest and most commonly used drugs in Medicare by 2030. Seniors who are tired of paying up to eight times more for their prescription drugs than people in other countries will return to being at the mercy of drug company greed.
GONE: Protection Against Outrageous Drug Company Price Hikes. Drug companies will no longer face penalties for hiking their prices beyond the rate of inflation. These penalties saved nearly 770,000 seniors directly on their drug costs and saved taxpayers and people on Medicare $3 billion.
GONE: The Expansion of Free Coverage for Low-Income Seniors. Eligibility for the Medicare Extra Help subsidy program will be reduced, restricting a program that makes prescription drugs more affordable for 1 million lower-income seniors and people with disabilities, with up to 13.1 million more eligible but not yet enrolled.
GONE: Medicare Reimbursements For Life-Saving Care. The 5 million people on Medicare would see life-saving health care threatened due to spending cuts.
GONE: Free Vaccines. Over 4 million Americans will lose access to free vaccines. Repealing free vaccine access would force people on Medicare to pay up to $424 for the shingles vaccine again.
GONE: Funding For Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care. Funding for nearly two-thirds of long-term residents in nursing homes would dry up.
GONE: $200 Billion in Medicare Funding Every Year. New enrollees will be pushed into privatized Medicare plans that restrict their choices of doctors and hospitals, leading to a $200 billion annual giveaway to corporations at the expense of people on Medicare and taxpayers without improving care.

The MAGA Project 2025 Agenda: Raising Drug Prices and Premiums

Killing Out-of-Pocket Cost Caps

MAGA Republicans Want People on Medicare to Pay More For Prescription Drugs. MAGA Republicans want to kill the Inflation Reduction Act, which will cap out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs starting on January 1. Millions of people in Medicare still struggle to pay for life-saving prescriptions or treatments, with Black Americans on Medicare being nearly twice as likely than their white counterparts to stop taking a prescription due to cost. Hispanic/Latino Americans over 65 are also 1.5 times as likely to have challenges affording out-of-pocket prescription costs. The Inflation Reduction Act caps annual out-of-pocket spending to $2,000 for over 54 million Americans beginning in 2025. If repealed, people on Medicare could face skyrocketing costs.

Republicans have been working on ending this benefit ever since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law, proposing legislation that would increase out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced multiple pieces of legislation to repeal the new out-of-pocket cap that will protect seniors from high prescription drug costs. Over 20 House Republicans sponsored a bill to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act.

This cap could mean the difference between life and death for the countless seniors relying on high-cost drugs for complex conditions such as Crohn’s disease. The 3.2 million on Medicare who are expected to reach the cap in 2025 will save an average of $1,500 per year on out-of-pocket costs – saving nearly 19 million Americans an average of $400 each year.

Ending The Insulin Copay Cost Cap

MAGA Republicans Want to Keep Profits High for Manufacturers and Insulin Costs Unaffordable For Seniors. For years, Republicans rejected legislation to cap insulin costs for millions of people with diabetes nationwide – even though as many as one in four Americans dependent on insulin are skipping or skimping on doses, a life-threatening practice no one in the country should have to bear. On average, seniors with Medicare Part D or B who are not receiving subsidies paid an average of $572 every year for this life-saving medication before the cap went into effect – an unthinkable sum for many on fixed incomes. Patients who suffer chronic complications could expect to pay upwards of an additional $650 per year.

The outrageous prices of insulin, a drug vital for the survival of nearly 4 million Americans on Medicare, forced 80 percent of Americans with diabetes to take out debt to pay for their prescriptions. The Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin prices at no more than $35 for all people on Medicare, saving them up to $1,500 annually. Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans are blocking efforts to expand the insulin copay cap to Americans on Medicaid, ACA plans, and private health insurance plans while fighting to protect multibillion-dollar tax breaks they passed for large corporations profiting off of insulin.

Fueling Unadulterated Drug Company Price Hikes

MAGA Republicans Want Big Drug Companies To Impose Outrageous Price Increases On Seniors Without Any Consequences. MAGA Republicans who want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act are seeking to end a provision that penalizes drug companies for raising drug prices faster than the rate of inflation. For too long, drug companies have charged whatever they want for lifesaving medications while seniors cut pills and skipped doses because of high costs. Drug costs have soared, leaving seniors forced to make impossible decisions between the drugs they need and the drugs they can afford.

Over the past 20 years, price increases for brand-name drugs in Medicare Part D have risen at more than twice the rate of inflation. During Trump’s first year in office, the list prices of 20 of the top 25 drugs covered by Medicare Part D increased between three and nine times the rate of inflation, according to KFF. AARP found that annual drug costs for the drugs most commonly used by seniors rose 5.8 percent in 2018, more than twice the rate of inflation. Likewise, drug prices increased an average of 21 percent in 2019 and grew faster than inflation in 2020. An analysis by KFF showed that half of all drugs covered by Medicare had list price increases exceeding the rate of inflation in 2020. For example, AbbVie has hiked the price of its blockbuster drug Humira 27 times, including in January 2021 when it raised its cost by 7.4 percent. Since this provision went into effect, manufacturers of 98 drugs have been penalized, saving at least 770,000 seniors directly on their drug costs, and saving people with Medicare and taxpayers nearly $3 billion.

Banning the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program

MAGA Republicans Want to Ban Medicare From Negotiating Lower Drug Prices. MAGA Republicans seeking to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act want to end the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program. Americans currently pay two to four times more for prescriptions than people in other countries and if Republicans have their way it will stay like that. Negotiating lower prices remains overwhelmingly popular among voters of all parties across the country, including 77 percent of Republican voters. Despite bipartisan support from the American people, the Inflation Reduction Act passed without a single vote from Republicans in Congress, and now some are working to repeal all of the Inflation Reduction Act’s drug pricing measures. The same Republican lawmakers who unanimously voted to maintain the status quo and keep health care costs high are fighting to repeal the drug pricing measures of the Inflation Reduction Act and extend tax breaks for the wealthy.

  • For The First Time In History, Medicare Is Finally Negotiating Lower Drug Prices For Seniors. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats in Congress gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices on behalf of seniors. These prices will take effect in 2026 and the administration will continue to negotiate more drugs every year, totaling 80 drugs by 2030. After a successful first round of negotiations, the administration announced lower prices for ten of the costliest drugs on the market. Medicare has already negotiated 38 to 79 percent lower list prices for the ten drugs that make up around 20 percentof all Medicare Part D spending. The first ten drugs selected for the first round of negotiations are taken by nearly 9 million people on Medicare, who spent $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs last year alone. The ten drugs included in the first round of negotiations are Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, and Fiasp. The newly lowered prices for the first round of drugs will save seniors thousands of dollars and will save taxpayers billions. These newly lowered prices would have saved seniors $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs and saved taxpayers $6 billion if they had been in effect in 2023.
  • While Democrats Are Working To Expand The Inflation Reduction Act’s Prescription Drug Savings, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans Want To Go Backwards. Democrats want to build on the drug pricing reforms to lower drug prices for all Americans. Meanwhile, Republicans are continuing to side with drug industry lobbyists by trying to stop Medicare from negotiating lower prices and prevent corporations from paying their fair share in taxes.

Giving Tax Breaks To Big Drug Companies While Raising Drug Prices for Seniors

MAGA Republican Efforts To Ban Medicare Drug Negotiations Are Driven By Nothing More Than Corporate Greed. The MAGA Republican Study Committee (RSC)’s latest budget proposal would repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and strip Medicare’s power to negotiate prices, costing taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and placing these equity-advancing improvements at risk while drug companies hoard record profits. If these efforts succeed, companies like Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb, who already spent over $100 million to lobby against the initial passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, will continue raking in billions annually on drugs with no generic alternative while sick Americans skip doses because of drug company greed.

Republicans continue to give into lobbying campaigns by the pharmaceutical industry, turning their backs on the American people by standing in opposition to any legislation reducing drug prices. During his administration, former President Trump was an ally of the pharmaceutical industry. He signed a $1.5 trillion tax bill that disproportionately benefited the wealthy and reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, giving billions in tax breaks to drug and health insurance companies and executives. Collectively, fourteen of the largest drug companies in the U.S. have already spent $62 billion this year lining the pockets of shareholders. Trump wants to gut Medicare and other health programs to fund tax breaks that ensure these rich shareholders get their billions in buybacks tax-free.

In the meantime, while industry lobbyists attempt to paint a grim future to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, CEOs are boasting record profits, upgrading their long-term revenue projections, and stating confidence in their ability to navigate the new legislation. Farxiga manufacturer AstraZeneca’s CEO Pascal Soriot bragged in July, “We recorded a record second quarter with almost $13 billion in revenue.” Drugmakers filed cases in eleven courts across the country to stop Medicare from negotiating. The same pharmaceutical companies suing the federal government over the Inflation Reduction Act are continuing to rake in multibillion-dollar profits, upgrade their long-term forecasts, and handsomely reward their shareholders. Drug company CEOs and executives want to pad their profits and keep costs high for seniors. If they get their way, it would mean higher drug prices and higher premiums for seniors already struggling to keep up with the high cost of living.

The MAGA Project 2025 Agenda: Slashing Medicare Benefits

Medicare has always been on MAGA Republicans’ chopping block. When they controlled the White House, House, and Senate between 2017 and 2021, they enacted and proposed multiple pieces of legislation that capped Medicare programs, cut benefits, and reduced spending. Trump proposed substantial cuts to Medicare in every single one of his budgets as President, including over $845 billion in cuts and reallocations from Medicare spending in 2020. One of the shining pillars of the Trump administration, the 2017 tax law, slashed over $25 billion in funding for Medicare within just one year of the cuts going into effect.

The Republican record of trying to cut Medicare did not improve after 2020. All but nine House Republicans and more than half of Republican Senators voted against the 2022 funding bill protecting Medicare from spending cuts as the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. In 2023, Republicans came out in droves supporting cuts to Medicare. From the Republican House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith floating potential Medicare cuts to Rep. Bruce Westerman supporting caps in Medicare spending, it is clear that top Republicans are itching to cut Medicare spending. Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy even proposed cuts to Medicare during the 2023 session, with support from the Republican Study Committee and many influential House members like House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and Rep. Chip Roy. They also advocated for a 2024 budget that would have included over $58 billion more cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

Slashing Medicare Coverage

MAGA Republicans Want to Slash Medicare Spending and Coverage. As recently as March of 2024, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) and Trump’s Project 2025 introduced proposals that would slash Medicare spending and increase costs to seniors. They follow a similar lane to Republicans’ 2024 budget proposal which seeks to privatize Medicare and raise the retirement age. Moving into budget negotiations for 2023, prominent Republicans including RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Senators Rubio and Ron Johnson, and Representative Matt Gaetz initially backed an 11-point plan pitched by Senator Rick Scott which would have sunset all government programs including Medicare after five years. The RSC proposal, which includes over $16 trillion in cuts to programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, follows other GOP proposals to sunset all federal programs after five years, including Medicare – threatening health coverage for 67.5 million seniors and people with disabilities. Trump wants to slash tens of billions from Medicare to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy.

  • Over 67.5 Million Seniors Could See Life-Saving Health Care Threatened. In 2023, there were over 5 millionAmericans enrolled in Medicare. These people rely on Medicare for life-saving services like doctor visits, prescription drugs, hospital, and nursing home care. Cuts to key Medicare programs would see millions of seniors at risk of having worse care, less access to facilities and physicians, and less choice for vital prescriptions, all while raising out-of-pocket costs.
  • MAGA Republicans Want to Curb Physician Reimbursement Dramatically and Cut Hospital Spending, Reducing Quality of Care and Limiting Provider Choice. Cuts like those recommended by the Trump administration would have significantly reduced payments to health providers, including hospitals. The nearly $900 billion in cuts and reallocations would have left hospitals more short-staffed than ever. For people on Medicare to receive the quality and affordable health care they are entitled to, they must have access to the physicians and facilities that provide that care. Republican cuts to Medicare could also see physician reimbursements fall, meaning fewer doctors able to take in fewer patients and, on average, located further away from people who rely on Medicare.
  • MAGA Republicans Want to End Anti-Fraud Measures that Protect Seniors from Price Gouging and Waste. House Republicans and Trump’s Project 2025 have proposed ending the Stark Law, which bans physicians from self-referring patients to facilities and services in which they have a financial stake. In addition to having a clear conflict of interest, these controversial physician-owned hospitals provide limited or no emergency services, cherry-pick the most potentially profitable patients, and incur significantly higher costs on the Medicare program. According to the HHS, up to one-third of these hospitals may violate Medicare requirements by relying on publicly funded services to stabilize patients while still charging the patients exorbitantly. The Affordable Care Act’s closing of the “whole hospital” exception loophole in the Stark Law reduced the federal deficit by half a billion dollars over ten years and President Biden with the ending of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) reinstituted these restrictions protecting patients and taxpayers from fraud and abuse; Republicans repealing it will cost the federal government and the American people millions of dollars annually. 

Cutting Medicare Benefits

MAGA Republicans Want to Shrink Part D Coverage Subsidies For Lower-Income Seniors and People with Disabilities on Medicare. The Inflation Reduction Act expanded eligibility for the Extra Help program, which subsidizes prescription drug coverage premiums for seniors with limited resources and incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or $21,870 per year as of 2023. 1.1 million lower-income seniors and people with disabilities are currently enrolled in the program, and up to 13.1 million more are eligible but not yet enrolled. Seniors save an estimated $300 a year on average in out-of-pocket costs by receiving full benefits instead of partial benefits. By repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, Republicans would repeal this program, putting affordable prescription drug coverage further out of reach for millions of seniors. 

MAGA Republicans Want to Reintroduce Costs for People on Medicare Based on Their Health Status. MAGA Republicans are pushing to allow Medicare to conduct medical underwriting to determine costs and coverage. Medical underwriting is a process in which insurance companies can discriminate against people and refuse to allow them onto health insurance plans based on that individual’s medical history. Trump’s Project 2025 proposes basing Medicare payments on the health status of a patient so that health providers can price gouge those who need health care the most. Allowing medical underwriting in Medicare would disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities who face health disparities due to systemic barriers to health care access, as well as people with chronic illness – and higher costs will only result in expanded treatment disparities.

MAGA Republicans Want to Push Seniors Into Privatized Medicare Plans, Padding Insurer Profits, Wasting Billions, and Propelling Medicare Towards Bankruptcy. Trump’s Project 2025 proposes making privatized Medicare Advantage plans the default for new enrollees. These plans cost 22 percent more on average per person. Pushing seniors into these plans would lead to a $200 billion annual giveaway to corporations and push Medicare towards bankruptcy – at the expense of people on Medicare and taxpayers without improving care. Experts estimate that if Medicare Advantage rose to 75 percent of Medicare enrollment, the program would waste nearly $2 trillion over 10 years on excess payments to these private plans “without any real improvement in health care quality for enrollees.” Even now, as lawmakers have worked to rein in overpayments, some Medicare Advantage plans are pulling back benefits; of the 25 MA parent organizations by number of plan offerings, 76 percent are decreasing their offerings ahead of the upcoming open enrollment period. MA plans are also known to systematically underpay rural providers and deny coverage to rural Americans. Pushing seniors to MA plans would put rural hospitals at risk of closing and seniors at risk of losing access to care.

Ending Free Vaccines For Seniors and People with Disabilities on Medicare

MAGA Republicans Want to End Free Vaccine Access For Over 4 Million Americans On Medicare. Before the Inflation Reduction Act, people on Medicare had to pay out-of-pocket copays for many recommended vaccines, such as shingles and RSV. In 2020 alone, more than 4,108,000 Americans received a vaccine through Medicare’s prescription drug benefit. Now, everyone enrolled in Medicare Part D has access to free vaccines, such as shingles and pneumonia, at no cost. Seniors on Medicare Part D are saving over $400 on average on vaccinations in 2023. The high out-of-pocket cost of the shingles vaccine has been a key factor in low vaccination rates, especially among Black and Latino communities. This has extended an important affordable preventive service to seniors on Medicare; Americans with private insurance could already typically receive shingles vaccinations at no cost. Repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, and with it, free vaccine access, would force seniors to pay up to $424 for the shingles vaccine again.

Cutting Funding For Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care

MAGA Republicans Want to Cut Funding For Nearly Two-Thirds of Long-Term Residents in Nursing Homes. Republicans are also pushing for cuts to Medicaid, which covers nursing home bills for over 60 percent of residents in nursing homes. In 2019, this totaled over $50 billion. The median private nursing home room can cost over $100,000 annually. Medicaid caps or cuts would see more seniors without the financial resources to afford long-term care. In contrast, Vice President Harris recently released a new proposal to shift nursing home coverage from Medicaid to Medicare and add an in-home health care benefit to Medicare – in addition to vision and hearing care.

Conclusion

The evidence is damning – the MAGA Trump Project 2025 agenda is a clear danger to seniors across the nation. Instead of supporting the tens of millions of Americans who rely on Medicare for health care, Trump and his MAGA allies want to slash spending, raise costs, and reduce coverage while increasing waste and giving tax breaks to big drug companies and the wealthiest Americans. The radical MAGA Medicare agenda threatens millions of older adults, people with disabilities, and their families and benefits the corporations and ultra-wealthy who profit off Americans’ illness.

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NEW REPORT: GREED WATCH: Big Drug Companies Continue to Put Profits Over People

Big Drug Companies Raked in $22.3 Billion in Profits in the Second Quarter of 2024, Spent Nearly $27 Million on Lobbying, and Spent $62 Billion On Stock Buybacks and Dividends In The First Half of 2024

Big drug companies have raked in eye-popping revenues this year. 14 of the biggest drug companies reported $184.2 billion in revenue between April and June, and over $22 billion in net profits, reflecting the record-high prices these companies charge for drugs.

Drug companies have been allowed to charge whatever they want for too long. They make billions while charging Americans prices up to eight times higher than in other high-income countries like Germany or Australia, forcing patients to cut pills and skip doses to make ends meet. Fortunately, the Biden-Harris administration and Democrats in Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, lowering drug costs for people on Medicare by finally giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices.

Drug companies are also rewarding their shareholders handsomely rather than making their products more affordable to patients. The fourteen companies have spent hundreds of millions or billions on dividends and stock buybacks this year so far. Additionally, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, and Novo Nordisk spent more lining the pockets of shareholders than on their research and development budgets. Research shows that pharmaceutical manufacturers could lose $1 trillion in revenue over a decade and still be the most profitable industry.

Table 1: Q2 2024 Big Drug Company Revenue, Profits, and Spending

Drug Manufacturer Quarterly Revenue H1 Shareholder Compensation Quarterly Research & Development Spending Quarterly Net Profits
Johnson & Johnson $22.4 billion $4.5 billion $3.4 billion $4.7 billion
Rochea $17.2 billion $11.3 billion $8.2 billion (H1)**** $7.4 billion (H1)****
Merck $16.1 billion $2.4 billion $3.5 billion $5.5 billion
Pfizer $13.3 billion $4.8 billion* $2.7 billion $41 million
AstraZeneca $12.9 billion $3.0 billion* $3.0 billion $1.9 billion
AbbVie $14.5 billion $1.3 billion** $1.9 billion $1.4 billion
Bristol Myers Squibb $12.2 billion $5.0 billion** $2.9 billion $1.7 billion
Novartis $12.5 billion $11.3 billion $2.4 billion $3.2 billion
Sanofib $11.7 billion $5.4 billion $1.7 billion $1.1 billion
Novo Nordiskc $9.8 billion $7.0 billion $2.3 billion $2.9 billion
GSKd $10.0 billion $2.3 billion* $1.9 billion $1.7 billion
Eli Lilly $11.3 billion $1.1 billion* $2.7 billion $3.0 billion
Amgen $8.4 billion $2.4 billion* $1.4 billion $746 million
Bayer $11.9 billion $123.5 million* $1.6 billion N/A
Total $184.2 billion $62.0 billion $28.2 billione $22.3 billione
* dividends only
** share repurchases only
*** unreported or net loss
**** data not reported on a quarterly basis
a CHF converted to USD based on the average quarterly exchange rate of 0.90 CHF to $1.00
b EUR converted to USD based on the average quarterly exchange rate of €0.935 to $1.00
c DKK converted to USD based on the average quarterly exchange rate of 6.971 kr. to $1.00
d GBP converted to USD based on the average quarterly exchange rate of £0.791 to $1.00
e  Roche H1 numbers included in quarterly total, since Q1/Q2 numbers are unavailable

Big Drug Companies Remain Highly Profitable & Expanded Investment Activity This Quarter, Countering the False Claims that Medicare Negotiation Undermines Innovation.

In the year following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, drug companies increased investment in bringing new drugs to market through higher spending on research, development, and acquisitions. In fact, following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, investment in research and development spending reached $161 billion in 2023, a 16.6 percent increase over 2022 and a nearly 50 percent increase since 2018. And despite the big drug companies arguing that the new law disincentivizes investment in small molecule drugs, a recent investor report confirms that the opposite is true. 

Big drug companies continue to harp on the Inflation Reduction Act, pushing lawsuits to halt Medicare Negotiation and claiming it hurts innovation – all while touting innovative new drug portfolios to Wall Street:

  • Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato touted his company’s “relentless focus on advancing the next wave of medical innovation” and admitted that he anticipated his business “growing 3% plus next year and then 5% to 7% out through 2030” – despite Medicare Negotiation impacting three separate drugs manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. The company also spent approximately $17 billion purchasing new products for its pipeline in the first six months of 2024.
  • AstraZeneca executive Dave Frederickson admitted, “I think that IRA represents a couple of headwinds that we’ve spoken through, I think that they’re manageable, and I think we’ve got a portfolio that allows us to grow through it” – despite suing to overturn the Negotiation Program so they can continue to charge whatever they want for their drugs. The company also spent $2.4 billion to acquire Fusion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in June 2024 and over $1 billion to acquire Amolyt Pharma in July 2024.
  • Merck CEO Robert Davis bragged about “the growing breadth of our pipeline,” noting, “We have the potential to bring as many new drugs to market in the next five years, as we launched over the next ten years, across a greater number of therapeutic areas and modalities and with a significant proportion having blockbuster-plus potential” – all despite suing the federal government to halt Medicare Negotiation. The company also acquired two additional companies for a combined $2.6 billion in 2024.
  • Eli Lilly CEO David A. Ricks attributed massive quarterly revenue growth of 36 percent year-over-year in part to the continued success of Jardiance, a drug whose list price has doubled since it launched over a decade ago. Ricks serves on the board of directors for pharmaceutical trade group PhRMA, which is suing to block Medicare Negotiation so drug companies can continue charging whatever they want for drugs. The company also announced an agreement to acquire Morphic for approximately $3.2 billion this quarter.

The Companies Manufacturing Drugs Being Negotiated By Medicare Brought In Billions in Revenue and Profits from Taxpayers and Patients and Spent It Lavishly To Reward Shareholders.

This quarter, the ten drugs selected for Medicare’s first round of negotiations brought in $18.1 billion in revenue, while the companies that manufacture these drugs raked in $16.2 billion in combined profits and spent nearly $25 billion rewarding shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends:

  • Amgen, the manufacturer of Enbrel, reported $8.4 billion in revenue and spent $1.2 billion on dividends for investors. Amgen has increased the price of Enbrel by 701 percent since it launched.
  • AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Farxiga, reported $12.9 billion in revenue and $1.9 billion in net profits. AstraZeneca has increased the price of Farxiga by nearly 87 percent since it launched.
  • Bristol Myers Squibb, which jointly manufactures Eliquis with Pfizer, raked in $1.7 billion in profits this quarter. Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer have increased the price of Eliquis by 124 percent since it launched.
  • Johnson & Johnson, which manufactures three of the ten drugs with lower prices being negotiated – Xarelto, Stelara, and Imbruvica – made $22.4 billion in revenue and $4.7 billion in net profits, while spending $136 million on stock buybacks. Johnson & Johnson has increased the price of Stelara by nearly 185 percent since it launched.
  • Merck, which manufactures Januvia, raked in $16.1 billion in revenue and $5.5 billion in net profits and spent more than $251 million on shareholder compensation. Merck has increased the price of Januvia by 293 percent since it launched.
  • Novartis, which manufactures Entresto, reported $12.5 billion in revenue and $3.2 billion in net profits while spending $11.3 billion on investors. Novartis has increased the price of Entresto by 83 percent since it launched.
  • Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Fiasp/NovoLog, far exceeded even their earnings expectations, bringing in $9.8 billion in revenue and $2.9 billion in net profits while spending $2.5 billion on shareholder compensation. Novo Nordisk has increased the price of the drug by 82 percent since it launched.
  • AbbVie, which jointly markets Imbruvica with Johnson & Johnson, brought in $14.5 billion in revenue and $1.4  billion in net profits this quarter. AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson have increased the price of the drug by 114 percent since it launched.
  • Eli Lilly, which jointly markets Jardiance with privately-held Boehringer Ingelheim, brought in $11.3 billion in revenue and $3.0 billion in net profits while rewarding shareholders with over $1 billion in dividends. Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim have increased the price of the drug by 103 percent since it launched.
  • Pfizer, which jointly markets Eliquis with Bristol Myers Squibb, brought in $13.3 billion in revenue and $41 million in net profits and spent $2.4 billion rewarding shareholders with dividend payments.

Table 2: Q2 2024 Revenue For Drugs Selected For Medicare Negotiation

Selected Drug Manufacturer Condition(s) Treated Quarterly Revenue Total Revenue Since Launch
Eliquis Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer Blood clots $5.3 billion $117.3 billion
Stelara Johnson & Johnson Psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis $2.9 billion $69.7 billion
Entresto Novartis Heart failure $1.9 billion $24 billion
Farxiga AstraZeneca Diabetes, Heart failure, and Chronic kidney disease $1.9 billion $24.7 billion
Imbruvica AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson Blood cancers $1.6 billion $61.7 billion
Jardiance Eli Lilly Type 2 diabetes $768.6 million* $11.2 billion*
Fiasp/NovoLog Novo Nordisk Diabetes $554.9 million $45 billion
Enbrel Amgen Rheumatoid arthritis, Psoriasis, and Psoriatic arthritis $909 million $85.8 billion
Xarelto Johnson & Johnson, Bayer Blood clots $1.5 billion $68.6 billion
Januvia Merck Type 2 diabetes $629 million $54.3 billion
Totals  $18.1 billion $562.3 billion
*Revenue for Jardiance, which is co-manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim, only includes Eli Lilly.

Big Drug Companies Are Suing to Block Medicare from Negotiating Lower Prices and Spending Millions On Lobbying. 

Big drug companies are suing to ban Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices for millions of Americans. If they get their way, patients will pay more so the drug companies can make more money. Seven big drug companies have filed separate lawsuits against the federal government to overturn the Inflation Reduction Act, and multiple lobbying groups representing big drug companies have also filed lawsuits. These lawsuits have already faced serious setbacks; drug companies are zero for six in the courts. This quarter alone, a New Jersey district court rejected Novo Nordisk’s case, and a federal judge in Connecticut rejected Jardiance co-manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim’s case.

Meanwhile, these same drug companies and their allies are spending millions of dollars lobbying Congress to protect their profits. 16 of the biggest drug companies spent $26.8 million this quarter on lobbying. Big drug companies have already been increasing their lobbying efforts dramatically, this year with industry group PhRMA’s advocacy spending growing 20 percent last quarter compared to 2024.

Table 3: Big Drug Companies Spent Nearly $27 Million On Lobbying In Q2 2024

Manufacturer Selected Drug Quarterly Lobbying Spending
Merck Januvia $3.1 million
Amgen Enbrel $2.7 million
Eli Lilly Jardiance $2.6 million
Pfizer Eliquis $2.5 million
Bayer Xarelto $2.2 million
Roche N/A $2.0 million
GSK N/A $1.5 million
Gilead N/A $1.5 million
Johnson & Johnson Imbruvica, Stelara, Xarelto $1.3 million
Novo Nordisk Fiasp/NovoLog $1.2 million
Novartis Entresto $1.1 million
AstraZeneca Farxiga $1.1 million
Boehringer Ingelheim Jardiance $1.0 million
Sanofi (US) N/A $860,000
Astellas (US) N/A $770,000
Bristol Myers Squibb Eliquis $740,000
AbbVie Imbruvica $580,000
Total $26.8 million

 

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In News, Report, Research

NEW REPORT: The MAGA Agenda Is An Existential Threat to Our Health Care

Protect Our Care Released New Report on the Threats to Health Care by Donald Trump, Project 2025, and MAGA Republicans

Read the Report Here. 

The MAGA Republican Party, led by Donald Trump, is escalating their attacks on American health care and doubled down on their plan to deny tens of millions of Americans affordable, lifesaving health care. Donald Trump has vowed to “terminate” the Affordable Care Act, hike costs, and rip away Medicare’s power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. 

MAGA and Trump allies at the Heritage Foundation also released Project 2025, a dangerous promise that will raise drug prices, repeal protections for pre-existing conditions, and cut Medicaid funding. 

“If Donald Trump wins, health care is on the chopping block,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans continue to double down on their promises to raise drug prices and the cost of health insurance all while ripping away health care from millions of families. If they are successful, 45 million Americans could lose coverage, nearly 20 million would be paying higher premiums, and over 100 million Americans would lose protections for pre-existing conditions, while seniors on Medicare would pay more for their prescription drugs. While they raise costs on working people, they’re trying to give more tax breaks to billionaires, CEOs, and corporations. The bottom line is that Trump and MAGA Republicans remain an existential threat to our health care and a second Trump term would be disastrous for millions of hardworking people across the nation.”

Here are five of the the many ways Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans will destroy your health care: 

  1. Trump and his allies will repeal the $35 insulin cap for 4 million Americans. Project 2025 fully repeals the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions that are saving Americans thousands of dollars on health care, such as the insulin cap for those on Medicare.
  2. Trump and his allies will repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and hike drug costs for seniors and families: Project 2025 fully repeals the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug provisions that are saving Americans thousands of dollars on health care. Republicans are continuing to side with drug industry lobbyists by trying to stop Medicare from negotiating lower prices.
  3. Trump and his allies will dismantle protections for people with pre-existing conditions and repeal the ACA: Trump notoriously sabotaged affordable health care and pre-existing condition protections while he was in office, and has renewed his calls to “terminate” the ACA throughout his campaign.
  4. Trump and his allies will cut Medicaid and throw millions off of their coverage: Project 2025 repeatedly refers to Medicaid, and especially the ACA’s expansion of the program to low-income adults as “failing” and too expensive to maintain. Project 2025 proposes to kick people off Medicaid by tying Medicaid funding to state abortion bans, imposing onerous work requirements, and allowing states to redirect Medicaid funding toward private insurance.
  5. Trump and his allies will hike premium costs by hundreds of dollars a year, locking millions out of affordable coverage: The Project 2025 plan would end enhanced premium tax credits that lower insurance costs for Americans, which were originally enacted by Democrats’ American Rescue Plan and extended by the Inflation Reduction Act. Getting rid of premium tax credits would keep health care unaffordable and out of reach for millions of Americans.
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Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi Joined Protect Our Care to Unveil New Report on Republicans’ Latest Attacks on American Health Care

Read the New Report Here. 

Watch the Full Event Here.

Washington, DC — Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-11) joined Protect Our Care and patient storytellers to discuss how Republicans are escalating their attacks on American health care. During the call, Protect Our Care released a new report on the GOP’s war on health care. The report finds that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are promising devastating health care policies in 2025, including repealing the ACA, dismantling reproductive care, hiking premiums, slashing Medicare and Medicaid, reversing recent coverage gains, and raising prescription drug costs for the American people.

This is in stark contrast to Democrats in Congress, who have expanded affordable coverage, lowered prescription drug costs, strengthened Medicaid for moms and kids, and worked to reduce inequities in care. This year, a record 21.3 million people signed up for coverage under the ACA marketplaces, seniors are saving on insulin and vaccine costs, and Medicare is negotiating lower prices for some of the costliest drugs on the market. 

“The cost of the American people’s health care is riding on the outcome of this election,” said Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-11). “We have to make sure people know that when you care about the cost of living, you need to care about the cost of medical care, cost of prescription drugs, and cost of having a pre-existing condition. We should care about it because the Republicans don’t. All they care about is corporate profits and putting insurance and drug companies back in charge. Health care is a priority for the Democrats. It is something we will fight for and protect because it makes a very big difference at the kitchen table of America’s working families, and more importantly, for their good health.”

“Over the last several months, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans have laid bare their latest scheme to raise drug prices and the cost of health insurance and rip away health care from millions of families,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “After enormous strides to expand affordable health care under President Biden, the GOP is trying to turn back the clock and put drug and insurance companies back in charge. Donald Trump is calling for total ACA repeal while Republicans in Congress are trying to overturn the entire Inflation Reduction Act, slash Medicare and Medicaid, and dismantle protections for pre-existing conditions.

“Health care is a key kitchen table issue that receives strong support from an overwhelming majority of voters, whether they live in red or blue states, or rural, suburban, or urban zip codes. Yet, the MAGA Republican Party, led by Donald Trump, has doubled down on their losing strategy of denying tens of millions of Americans affordable life-saving health care. The GOP agenda is reckless and unpopular among voters of all parties, and it would be devastating for hardworking people across our country.” 

Key Report Findings: MAGA Republicans Want to Hike Costs and Rip Away Health Care

  • Repeal the ACA: Donald Trump sabotaged affordable health care and pre-existing condition protections while he was in office, and has renewed his calls to “terminate” the ACA at least seven times over the last several months with MAGA Republicans echoing his calls.If Trump doesn’t succeed at repealing the ACA altogether, he will stop at nothing to gut it and other critical protections that the American people rely on. 
  • Cut Medicaid and throw millions off their coverage: MAGA Republicans propose cutting Medicaid spending by over 54 percent in the next decade and ripping coverage away from tens of millions of children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
  • Repeal the Inflation Reduction Act and hike drug costs for seniors and families: MAGA Republicans want to fully repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug provisions that are saving Americans thousands of dollars on health care.
  • Hike premium costs by hundreds of dollars a year: MAGA Republicans want to end enhanced premium tax credits that lower insurance costs for Americans, which were originally enacted in the American Rescue Plan and extended through 2025 by the Inflation Reduction Act.
  • Dismantle protections for pre-existing conditions: MAGA Republicans want to remove many protections for the over 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions made possible through the Affordable Care Act and would allow insurers to deny coverage or charge more. 
  • Expand access to junk plans: MAGA Republicans want to codify rules put forth by the Trump administration that expanded junk health insurance plans known as association health plans (AHPs). These plans are not required to cover the essential health benefits required by the Affordable Care Act and are allowed to charge people more based on their age, health status, and gender.

“One of the riskiest conditions to women in this country is pregnancy which is why protecting the Affordable Care Act is so important,” said Amy Raslevich, storyteller. “It guarantees essential health benefits, such as coverage of birth control. I genuinely fear for my daughter’s life given the rollback of Roe v. Wade and given the dangers of pregnancy in this country that we don’t talk about. She’s currently protected because we’re in Pennsylvania, and she has access to birth control. But if the ACA is repealed, and states have more control over how women manage their own health, we will see more women die in this country. I think that keeping people well is every bit as important, and it’s truly under threat for women right now.”

“The Affordable Care Act saved my life — I had no idea that I was ill,” said DonnaMarie Woodson, storyteller. “When the ACA was passed, I got health care, went to the doctor, and found out that I had stage three colon cancer and stage one breast cancer. So the ACA saved my life and it also saved my family from medical debt. In addition, my husband is a diabetic and his insulin could cost upwards of $200 a vial. But thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, it is now capped at $35 a month. I’m so thankful and grateful for President Biden and Democrats for all that they have done to make life so much better for all Americans. The American people need to know this information and realize exactly who’s responsible for lowering their health care costs.”

“The last couple of decades, I’ve had to deal with increasingly severe psoriasis,” said Irv Varkonyi, storyteller. “Along with other prescription drugs that I take, my co-pays would now be approaching $12,000 per year. But this year, the situation has dramatically improved for me. The Inflation Reduction Act has capped out-of-pocket costs at $3,000 per year for Medicare, which I reached during the first part of 2024. I am so grateful to the leadership of President Biden and Speaker Emerita Pelosi in recognizing that solutions had to be found to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Retired seniors, such as I, rely on limited income from Social Security, along with our retirement savings. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s annual out-of-pocket cap, I am now saving thousands of dollars a year, which I will pass on to my five grandchildren one day.”

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In News, Report, Research

“Congress Shouldn’t Let Big Pharma off the Hook”: Senator Welch and Rep. Dingell Join Protect Our Care to Release New Report on Massive Drug Company Profits

Report Finds Big Drug Companies Raked in Nearly $29 Billion in Profits & Spent Over $28 Billion Rewarding Shareholders In Just The First Three Months of 2024

Read the New Report Here. 

Watch the Full Event Here.

Washington, DC — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) and U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) joined Protect Our Care to call out big pharmaceutical companies for continuing to put profits over patients. During the call, Protect Our Care released a new report summarizing big drug companies’ recent investor reports, demonstrating how they are raking in profit and rewarding shareholders while more than 1 in 3 Americans are cutting pills or skipping doses because they can’t afford their medication.

The report is the latest in Protect Our Care’s Greed Watch series, highlighting the hypocrisy of big drug companies. While drug companies are raking in billions, they are working to undermine the Inflation Reduction Act by filing lawsuits and increasing their lobbying to protect their profits. Drug companies have been working behind the scenes with Republican lawmakers to repeal all of the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions aimed at making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors. Big drug companies claim that the new law to make drugs more affordable will harm patients, but in reality, they’re telling investors the opposite and spending billions on rewarding their investors through stock buybacks and dividends, paying their executives millions, and spending millions lobbying to keep their prices high.

“For too long, pharmaceutical companies have cashed in on the vulnerabilities of patients needing access to life-saving medication, charging patients sky-high prices with no repercussions. We’re working to change that,” said Senator Peter Welch (D-VT). “I’m fighting in the Senate to advance legislation that builds off our success in the Inflation Reduction Act, bringing more prescription drugs to negotiation, faster and sooner. Seniors and families shouldn’t be forced to put up with Big Pharma’s greed, and Congress shouldn’t let Big Pharma off the hook.”   

“Democrats are fighting every day to confront pharmaceutical companies who are putting profits over patients and are making billions of dollars at the expense of hardworking Americans,” said Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06). “The Inflation Reduction Act is a landmark piece of legislation, and we’re already seeing the impacts and the cost savings for people across the country. Unfortunately, big drug companies continue to charge some of the highest prices in the world for the vital medicines that Americans need to stay healthy. If you’re sick in this country, and you need medicine, you should be able to get it, no matter who you are or where you live.” 

“Today we’re putting drug company greed on full display,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “While drug companies are claiming they need to charge Americans more than anyone in the world for prescription drugs, they are celebrating massive profits on Wall Street. The Inflation Reduction Act is reining in drug prices for patients by stopping outrageous price hikes, capping costs for seniors, and giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices. President Biden and Democrats took on Big Pharma and won, but drug companies and their Republican allies are not backing down on their fight to rip away all of this progress and make it even harder for patients to get the drugs they need to survive.” 

Key Report Findings:

  • Big drug companies started off 2024 by raking in $29 billion in profits. In the first three months of 2024, 15 of the biggest drug companies reported nearly $173 billion in revenue and nearly $29 billion in net profits – eye-popping figures that reflect the record-high prices these companies charge for drugs.
  • The drug companies suing to block Medicare from negotiating lower prices brought in billions in revenue and profits, and spent lavishly to reward shareholders. In the first three months of 2024, the ten drugs selected for Medicare’s first round of negotiations brought in $16.5 billion in revenue, while the companies that manufacture these drugs raked in $25.4 billion in combined profits and spent nearly $26 billion rewarding shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends. 
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NEW REPORT: 85 Million Depend on Medicaid and CHIP, But GOP Doubles Down on Plan to Rip Coverage Away

Medicaid Awareness Month: Republicans Wage War on Medicaid As 85 Million Americans Rely on The Program for Affordable Health Care

Read the Full Report Here.

Washington, D.C. — On the first day of Medicaid Awareness Month, Protect Our Care is releasing a new national report detailing Republican plans to slash Medicaid and rip coverage away from millions of Americans. While Medicaid Awareness Month is a celebration of how this vital health care program has touched millions of families across the nation, it is also an important reminder that Medicaid remains under attack by Republicans. 

“Republican lawmakers are playing a dangerous game as they escalate their attacks against Medicaid and affordable health care,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “If MAGA Republicans get their way, Medicaid coverage will be ripped away from kids, seniors, and working people who count on it, reversing all of the progress made by Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration. The consequences of the GOP plans for Medicaid would be devastating, and they are entirely out of step with voters across parties.”

More than one in four Americans are covered through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP), and the program serves people from all backgrounds, including children, mothers, people of color, people with disabilities, working families, rural Americans, and seniors. Yet Republicans won’t stop trying to make it harder to access affordable care. The latest GOP budget proposal slashes trillions from Medicaid through block granting and calls for work reporting requirements and other bureaucratic measures designed to throw people off their coverage. GOP leaders in 10 states have failed to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), blocking 1.6 million people from lifesaving coverage. Three states under GOP leadership have also failed to expand Medicaid coverage to mothers for 12 months postpartum, refusing to help address the growing maternal mortality rate as one in three pregnancy-related deaths occurs between six weeks and one year after birth. 

On the other hand, President Biden and Democrats in Congress have defended Medicaid from GOP attacks, created multi-billion dollar incentives for Medicaid expansion, stopped onerous work requirements, pushed for expanded postpartum coverage, and worked to minimize the impacts of Medicaid unwinding. The contrast with Republicans could not be clearer. 

Protect Our Care will continue to host events and activities throughout Medicaid Awareness Month, which includes the following themes each week:

  • Week 1: Republican threats to Medicaid. Week one will focus on how Republicans are actively seeking cuts to Medicaid while GOP leaders in 10 states continue to block Medicaid expansion. 
  • Week 2: Medicaid helps people of color and rural Americans. Week two will highlight how Medicaid is a critical tool to expand access to coverage, which together with policies that address other social and structural determinants of health, narrow stark disparities in health care, improve families’ financial security, and make people healthier. 
  • Week 3: Medicaid helps women and kids. Week three will bring attention to the vital role of Medicaid for mothers and children across the country.
  • Week 4: Medicaid helps seniors and people with disabilities. The final week will focus on how Medicaid helps seniors and people with disabilities access lifesaving care.
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In News, Report, Research

NEW: Protect Our Care, NAACP Release Report on How the Inflation Reduction Act is Working to Lower Costs for Black Americans

Read the Report Here.

Washington, DC — Today, Protect Our Care and the NAACP are releasing a report detailing how the Inflation Reduction Act benefits Black Americans nationwide. Thanks to President Biden and Democrats in Congress, health care and prescription drugs are becoming more affordable for more people in the United States. 

According to the report, Black Americans disproportionately face adverse health outcomes such as higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and more affordability challenges when it comes to getting the care and prescriptions they need. The Inflation Reduction Act is working to lower costs nationwide by lowering premiums for people who buy health insurance on their own, capping the cost of insulin, limiting out-of-pocket spending for seniors’ prescriptions, providing no-cost vaccines, and empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. These lower costs translate to better access to care as a record number of Black Americans have enrolled in low- or no-cost Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans.

States with the highest Black populations like California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and Virginia benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act as six of the first ten drugs selected for negotiation treat conditions that disproportionately impact Black Americans:

  • Black Americans are 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and twice as likely to die from the disease, which is treated by Januvia, Jardiance, Farxiga, and Fiasp/NovoLog. The negotiation program could lower costs for approximately 427,620 Black American enrollees taking Januvia, Jardiance, Farxiga, and Fiasp/NovoLog as of 2022.
  • Black Americans are more than three times as likely to be diagnosed with end-stage renal disease related to diabetes. Farxiga treats kidney disease and diabetes. The negotiation program could lower costs for approximately 96,000 Black American enrollees taking Farxiga as of 2022.
  • Black Americans are more likely to have activity limitations due to arthritis than their white counterparts. Enbrel treats arthritis. The negotiation program could lower costs for approximately 5,500 Black American enrollees taking Enbrel as of 2022.
  • Black American Medicare beneficiaries have nearly 2.5 times higher rates of emergency department visits for hypertension and more than twice the emergency care rates for heart failure than their white counterparts. Farxiga and Entresto treat heart failure and high blood pressure can cause blood clots, which Eliquis and Xarelto treat. The negotiation program could lower costs for approximately 191,500 Black American enrollees taking Farxiga, Eliquis, and Entresto as of 2022.

Since the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, big drug companies have spent millions of dollars lobbying and filed meritless lawsuits to block the Negotiation Program from lowering drug prices. Medicare negotiation will save seniors and taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, and it’s the most popular provision of the Inflation Reduction Act. However, every Republican voted in Congress voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and Republicans have now introduced legislation to repeal it and are fighting to protect drug company profits. Read more on Republicans’ threats to health care here. 

Leslie Dach, Chair of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement: 

“The Inflation Reduction Act is making a difference, especially for families who need it most. Black Americans have faced too many barriers to accessing the care they need, leading to negative health outcomes. Our report finds that thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, millions of Black families have more breathing room to see a doctor when they get sick and get the medicines they need to stay healthy without sacrificing other basic needs like food, housing, or saving for their future. But all this progress is under attack from Republicans. While Democrats lower costs for people, Republicans are doing the bidding of big drug companies, fighting to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act and ban Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices, driving up costs for millions. We must celebrate the accomplishments of the Inflation Reduction Act, and continue to fight to ensure everyone has the health care they need, no matter who they are or where they live.”

Dr. Chris T. Pernell, Director of the Center for Health Equity at the NAACP issued the following statement:

“The fight to protect and advance the health of Black Americans is at the forefront of our mandate to improve Black lives. The Inflation Reduction Act is a necessary tool to beat back the barriers to access to care and the cost of prescription drugs especially. Assuring optimal health for all communities, particularly those who have been saddled with higher rates of chronic disease and staggering costs, is exactly where the Biden-Harris Administration should be focused. This is what equity in action looks like – saving lives, preventing disease, and controlling costs.”

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In News, Report, Research

NEW REPORT: In 2023, Greedy Drug Companies Raked in $684 Billion and Spent $106 Billion Rewarding Shareholders

Big Drug Companies and Their MAGA Republican Allies Are Putting Profits Over Patients Detailed in New Report.

Read the Full Report Here.

Washington, D.C. — Protect Our Care is releasing a new report detailing pharmaceutical companies’ sky-high revenues as they continue charging unaffordable prices to patients. The report found that in 2023, 16 of the largest drug companies raked in $684 billion, and they spent $106 billion rewarding shareholders. For too long, drug companies have been allowed to charge whatever they want, gouging patients to the point that more than 1 in 3 Americans report cutting pills or skipping doses because they can’t afford their medication.

“Drug companies’ greed is only getting worse,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Our nation’s seniors are depending on the savings from the Inflation Reduction Act so they don’t have to choose between filling their prescription and filling their refrigerator. In the richest country in the world, no one should be cutting pills or skipping doses. It is reprehensible that big drug companies and MAGA Republicans continue to put profits over people as they work to block negotiations in court and gut the program in Congress.”

Many of the drugmakers highlighted in the report are the same companies in court now to stop Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act. Drug companies have also been working behind the scenes with Republican lawmakers to repeal all of the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions to make prescription drugs more affordable for millions of seniors. Big drug companies claim that the new law to make drugs more affordable will harm patients, but in reality, they’re telling investors the opposite and spending billions on rewarding their investors through stock buybacks and dividends, paying their executives millions, and spending millions lobbying to keep their prices high.

Key Points:

  • We followed the 2023 earnings reports of 16 drug companies.
  • These 16 companies reported $684.1 billion in total global revenue and have announced dividend payments and stock buybacks totaling $105.9 billion.
  • The seven publicly held companies currently suing to ban Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices reported $343 billion in revenue. Those same companies reported shareholder compensation in the form of stock buybacks and dividends totaling $53 billion.
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In News, Report, Research

“Our Work Is Making a Difference”: Senator Baldwin Joins Protect Our Care and Young Invincibles to Release New Report on How the ACA Benefits Young Americans

Read the New Report Here. 

Watch the Full Event Here.

Washington, DC — Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined Protect Our Care and Young Invincibles to discuss how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is benefiting young people across the nation by providing access to more affordable health coverage. During the call, speakers discussed how the ACA is working to benefit young Americans, and how President Biden and Democrats in Congress are protecting and expanding these benefits. Right now, four out of five ACA enrollees can find coverage for $10 or less per month. Open enrollment is set to close on January 16, with some exceptions for state-run marketplaces. 

According to the report, the ACA has lowered costs and made coverage more available to young people through policies including Medicaid expansion, affordable Marketplace coverage, and the requirement that insurers must allow people up to age 26 to stay on their parent’s health plan. This has expanded young people’s access to essential services like mental health care. In 2023, enrollment in the ACA Marketplaces reached an all-time high, with 15.7 million Americans receiving coverage. More than one in four, or 4.1 million of those enrolled in Marketplace coverage were between the ages of 18 and 34.

“Over a decade ago, when we passed the Affordable Care Act, I was proud to champion the provision that for the first time allowed young people to stay on their parent’s insurance until 26 and fight for Americans who were previously locked out of insurance because of pre-existing conditions,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). “There’s more work to do, but as we enter another record-breaking year for enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, we’re reminded of the difference this historic step forward is making for millions of Americans, including young people who are benefitting every day from accessible mental health, reproductive, and primary care. Our work is making a difference.”

“Medicaid expansion, the ability to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26, and the creation of the ACA marketplaces have all provided more opportunities for young people to enroll in coverage,”  said Mina Schultz, Health Policy and Advocacy Manager at Young Invincibles. “The financial help available to lower the monthly cost of coverage has put coverage within reach for millions. And importantly, with half of young adults living with a mental health condition, mental health care has never been more accessible. Thus far, in the 11th annual ACA marketplace open enrollment period, there has been a record number of 20 million people enrolled in coverage. This report is important, now more than ever, to lift up the experiences of young people in the health care system as we work ever more towards equitable, accessible, and affordable health care for all.” 

“The Affordable Care Act has been revolutionary for young people, ” said Alex Soltany, advocate. “For young adults, this access to health coverage is essential and can be life or death. We never think we’re going to need coverage but that’s why having health insurance coverage is so important. A couple of years ago, a close friend of mine unexpectedly suffered a broken collarbone while playing sports. In college, he was covered under his university student health plan but upon graduation, he lost that coverage. He didn’t qualify for employer-sponsored insurance and went looking for insurance on his own. His decision to purchase health insurance through the ACA marketplace saved him from thousands of dollars in medical debt he would have incurred from ambulance, hospital, and surgical fees. If he had been uninsured, he would have been unable to afford his monthly rent.”

“My 15-year-old brother and I are fortunate to have never known a time in which we’ve had to worry about covering our health care costs, thanks to the trailblazing efforts of Senator Baldwin and President Obama,” said Chandra Chouhan, advocate. “We must realize one very important thing – the Affordable Care Act is about more than coverage. It’s about preserving the health and well-being of all Americans so we can pursue our shared freedoms and dreams. When I hear about Donald Trump and Wisconsin Republicans threatening to terminate the ACA without any regard for the tens of millions of Americans who depend on it, I feel scared to witness such a blatant disregard for human life. We must take action to reelect leaders like Senator Baldwin, who are committed to preserving and expanding the ACA.”

“The Affordable Care Act has been a game-changer for young people across the nation, and the impact of the health care law only continues to grow as President Biden and Democrats work to drive down costs,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Our report finds that millions of young people have health insurance because of the ACA, which has helped more people receive critical services like mental health and addiction treatment, cancer screenings, and prenatal care. But the ACA is under relentless attack from Republicans and in the courts. Donald Trump has promised repeatedly that if he’s elected, he will eliminate the Affordable Care Act. So not only must we celebrate the accomplishments of the Affordable Care Act, but we must remain ever vigilant in protecting it from its enemies as more Americans rely on it. ”

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In News, Report, Research

NEW REPORT: “A Dark Cloud Over U.S. Drug Approval” – How FDA Approvals Could Be Thrown Into Chaos Post-Mifepristone Case

Read the Full Report Here.

Washington, D.C. — Following the announcement that the Supreme Court will hear Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration next term, Protect Our Care is releasing a new report that describes what is at risk if the Supreme Court sets the precedent of allowing courts to overrule the FDA’s drug approval decisions. The report provides a detailed look at the categories of drugs that could be most at risk from ideological opponents and friendly judges. 

Earlier this year, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk invalidated the FDA’s approval of mifepristone and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals severely restricted access to mifepristone, but the Supreme Court stayed this decision. A decision to ban mifepristone would threaten millions of women’s access to safe and legal abortions and open the door for the politically motivated destruction of the entire drug approval process.

The report explains if the Supreme Court opens the door, the public could lose access to other critical and lifesaving health care such as:

  • other abortion and contraception products
  • common vaccines opposed by anti-vaxxers
  • drugs and vaccines that were developed with fetal cell lines, including ones that protect against Hepatitis A
  • vital treatments for gender-affirming care and HIV prevention
  • innovative cell and gene therapies
  • embryonic stem cell research
  • investments into future treatments with the potential to treat or cure diseases like Parkinson’s, cancer, and diabetes

“A dark cloud looms over the drug approval and development processes as the Supreme Court weighs allowing politics to trump science,” said Leslie Dach, chair of Protect Our Care. “If the lower courts’ decisions stand, any third party with a political agenda can challenge a medication they object to, and judges could ignore expert opinions and arbitrarily rip away lifesaving drugs and vaccines from patients who rely on them.  The entire FDA approval process would be thrown into chaos and millions of people across the nation would suffer.”

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