Dems try to break through on drug pricing message

Much of the public appears to be largely in the dark about Democrats’ signature effort to let Medicare negotiate drug prices, a potentially troubling sign ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

 

The inclusion of a provision allowing those negotiations in the Inflation Reduction Act marked the culmination of an at least 20-year push by Democrats and was touted as a major win over Big Pharma.

 

Health care has been a winning issue for the party in previous midterm elections, and the law’s passage was intended to give lawmakers a major political victory to campaign on.

 

But a new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll shows most adults are unaware of the law’s key health provisions.

  • Only 36 percent of Americans said they were aware that the Inflation Reduction Act allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices; 29 percent said they knew the law put a cap on insulin prices for people on Medicare and only 29 percent said they knew about a cap on out of pocket prescription drug costs.

Biden highlighted the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act to older Americans during events in California and Oregon over the weekend, warning that Republicans will take away Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices if they win control of Congress in the midterm elections next month.

 

His messaging aimed to reinforce the idea that Democrats are tackling issues of importance to the average family.

 

But the negotiation provision of the law won’t start until 2026. Even then, the negotiations will at first be limited to just 10 drugs; it will be expanded to 20 drugs by 2029.