***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17 AT 3:30 PM ET***
Protect Our Care Is Launching Medicare Autumn to Spread the Word That Medicare Is Better Than Ever Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act
Washington, D.C. — On Tuesday, October 17, at 3:30 PM ET, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09) will join Protect Our Care to kick off Medicare Autumn. This campaign coincides with Medicare Open Enrollment and includes nationwide events, a multi-state tour, and themed weeks. Panelists will discuss how the 2024 open enrollment period will bring new benefits to 65 million people on Medicare. Over the next several weeks, 65 million people will go to select their Medicare plans, and they will see new benefits that could save them thousands of dollars on their prescription drug costs. Signed into law by President Biden last year, the Inflation Reduction Act introduced $35 caps on monthly insulin copays, free shingles and other recommended vaccinations, protections from drug company price hikes, and $2,000 out-of-pocket caps on prescription drugs beginning in 2025.
Critically, the law also gives Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices. Right now, the Biden administration is in the process of lowering prices for the first round of prescription drugs under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, and those prices will take effect in 2026. This new program will lower prices for some of the highest-priced prescription drugs on the market used to treat conditions like diabetes, heart failure, blood clots, and autoimmune disorders.
PRESS CALL
WHO:
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09)
Linda Hamacher, patient storyteller (MI)
Dawn LaGuerre, patient storyteller (NY)
Leslie Dach, Chair of Protect Our Care
WHAT: Virtual Press Conference
WHERE: Register for the Event Here
WHEN: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 3:30 PM