GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Michigan Congresswoman Hillary Scholten joined healthcare advocates and Protect Our Care Michigan Thursday to talk about the Biden-Harris administration’s next steps in lowering prescription drug costs.
The administration recently released the final guidance for the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.
These guidelines outline the process for negotiation, and by September 1, the ten drugs selected for the first round of price negotiations will be announced.
Thursday’s speakers included Congresswoman Scholten (D-MI 3), Michigan Representative Will Snyder (D-Muskegon), Independent Living Team Manager for Grand Rapids-based Disability Advocates Derrick Collins and Rick Hainer, a senior citizen from Muskegon.
The speakers also discussed a new fact sheet from Protect Our Care outlining how the Inflation Reduction Act reduces healthcare costs for Michiganders.
It aims to add even more savings as the law’s provisions give Medicare the power to negotiate and cap seniors’ prescription drug costs.
Protect Our Care Fact Sheet by WXMI on Scribd
Advocates claim Republicans and big drug companies are attacking the Inflation Reduction Act in Congress and the courts.
They say pharmaceutical giants Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Astellas Pharma and Johnson & Johnson-owned Janssen Pharmaceuticals are “laser-focused” on “undermining” the Inflation Reduction Act by filing lawsuits to “protect their profits and stop the administration from negotiating lower drug prices.”
“Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues continue to side with Big Pharma putting profits over people,” Congresswoman Scholten said Thursday. “We see it time and time again— Republicans teaming up with Big Pharma to try to hit the brakes and even rollback the gains of the Inflation Reduction Act. This includes legislation pushing ‘do-nothing, junk health plans’ that don’t provide adequate healthcare coverage for our seniors.”
She added that, because of the Inflation Reduction Act, Michiganders are seeing savings on prescription drugs already, and she plans to continue working with Congress to keep costs low.
"Seniors' out of pocket costs will be capped at $2,000 per year thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Nearly 19 million people nationwide are expected to save $400 per year on out-of-pocket prescription drug prices, including over 672,000 Michiganders, through the cap," she added. "You have my pledge that I will continue working to keep costs low for our seniors and expand these money saving provisions even more."
