GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In the late 90's, Senator Debbie Stabenow drove a busload of seniors into Canada, hoping to catch prescription medicine at a lower cost.
"It just did not seem right to me, that crossing a bridge from Detroit to Windsor would drop prescription drug prices," said Stabenow, nearly thirty years later. "But it did. And it still does, because Canada negotiates best price."
"The United States has not done that," Stabenow continued. In Washington, she said, drug company lobbyists outnumber senators fifteen to one.
On Thursday, the first female Michigan U.S. Senator stood alongside the most recent woman to be elected to Congress, Representative Hilary Scholten.The two lawmakers held a press conference in Grand Rapids, joining the Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan, to spotlight the newly lowered cost of prescription drugs, now that the Inflation Reduction Act is officially active.
Stabenow says the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed last summer, substantially improved the U.S. healthcare system.
People who receive Medicare pay less out-of-pocket for key prescriptions, including insulin, which is now capped at $35 per month. Seniors can get free vaccines. Medicare can negotiate for lower prices.
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Senator Stabenow and Representative Scholten both tout the legislation as necessary relief.
Scholten, for one, says she's heard "heartbreaking" stories from local families trying to balance prescription costs with costs of living.
"Every day I hear heartbreaking stories from people across West Michigan who have struggled to fill their prescriptions, shoulder the cost of healthcare that they and their families need, whether they're making a decision between taking a full dose of insulin, putting food on the table, affording clothes for their kids," she said on Thursday.
Mothers should not have to choose between health and family, Scholten said.
"There's an alternative out there, and we can make it happen. We've done it. Costs should never be a barrier to someone's health or quality of life," she said. "That's why I'm so excited to be here today to highlight the Inflation Reduction Act."
The legislation went into effect on April 1. Signed in August of 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act allocated $750 billion to initiatives on health care, as well as energy and climate change.
READ ALSO: Governor Whitmer directs Inflation Reduction Act provisions to Michiganders
