Heading into next year’s re-election, President Biden is betting that voters at the polls will reward him for successfully pushing policies aimed at reducing health care costs for millions of Americans.
In speech after speech, Biden called for capping the cost of insulin to $35, setting new caps on healthcare costs for the elderly, making some vaccines free, and reducing the cost of some of the world’s most expensive drugs. He talks about pushing for some price cuts, among other things.
At the White House, Mr. Biden and his advisers have already begun to put the issue at the center of their agendas. And at Biden’s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, his aides argued that TV ads, speech abstracts and Biden’s push to cut healthcare costs stood in stark contrast to his Republican opponents. I am preparing for my speech.
“The president is going to make a very strong case,” said Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a member of the president’s National Election Advisory Board. “People not only want to keep the gains they have made, but they also want the benefits that are coming.”
On Tuesday, the White House announced that the Biden administration would negotiate on behalf of Medicare recipients to cut prices on 10 popular and expensive drugs used to treat diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions.
The move was made possible by last year’s passage of Mr. Biden’s Inflation Control Act, which allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the elderly for the first time, a change that has been opposed by the pharmaceutical industry for decades.
Republicans also generally oppose giving the government the right to negotiate drug prices. But Republican presidential candidates rarely talk about drug costs, instead focusing on abortion, transgender health care and coronavirus lockdowns.
In his speech, Biden lashed out at those whose Republican opponents in industry and Congress all voted against a bill containing prescription drug provisions. His aides say it’s an effective message.
“Today is the beginning of a new deal for patients, not just big pharma receiving blank checks at their expense,” the president said at a White House event celebrating the change.
Since signing the bill into law a year ago, Biden has repeatedly called it one of his proudest victories in Congress. However, his approval ratings have changed little. And while polls show that the new policy is widely popular among Americans who know about it, far fewer people even know the change was made. is also suggested.
That’s most likely because, assuming Mr. Biden’s program gets past the legal hurdles, the earliest the prices of the first few drugs are actually expected to drop is 2026. Pharmaceutical companies have filed numerous lawsuits against the government, alleging the law is unconstitutional. The trial could last for years.
The American Pharmaceutical Research Association, a trade group, said in a lawsuit against the administration that the negotiated pricing plan was “a government order disguised as negotiation.”
Even if Mr. Biden’s plan goes into effect, senior citizens who choose to distribute drugs will have to continue doing so for at least a year after the 2024 presidential election.
Danny Cottrell, 67, a pharmacist who owns a retail pharmacy group in Bruton, Alabama, said he regularly advises Medicare patients on the details of the government’s prescription program. He welcomed Mr. Biden’s change, but said it was up to someone like him to explain the complicated process.
“I have to remind them, this won’t start until 2026,” Cottrell said. “And tell them that this will change several times now and then.”
Biden’s top domestic policy adviser, Neela Tanden, said the White House was confident the plan would get past the legal hurdles.
“It is ridiculous to claim that the negotiations are unconstitutional,” she said in an interview. “There is nothing in the Constitution that says Medicare’s drug price negotiations are unconstitutional.”
But more broadly, Mr. Tanden said he and other Western presidential advisers were determined to put pushing for health care cost reductions at the center of Mr. Biden’s message to Americans.
And next September, just weeks before Election Day, the administration will announce the results of year-long negotiations over the first 10 drugs.
“We will work extensively to really remind people of this issue,” Tanden said.
For those leading the Biden re-election campaign, the political benefits of focusing on cutting healthcare costs are clear.
Some polls show that 80% of Americans support allowing the government to negotiate lower prices for Medicare, as it already does for veterans and military personnel.
Campaign aides say talking about lowering drug prices and limiting out-of-pocket medical costs is one way to win Mr. Biden’s support among seniors, who are traditionally Republican voters. said. This is especially important in battleground states such as Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Ohio, where growing senior support is critical in tight races.
Early television ads for the campaign included numerous references to the president’s efforts to cut healthcare costs. A spokeswoman for the campaign said health care would be at the center of a $25 million ad campaign focused on what the president has been doing to cut costs across the board and boost the economy.
Kate Bedingfield, who served as director of public affairs during Mr. Biden’s first two years in office, said the issue also has political benefits in terms of appealing to those who would not directly benefit from certain cost cuts. Ta.
“This is in really stark contrast to the Republican Party, which got in the way and continues to get in the way of furthering this issue,” she said.
Texas Republican Rep. Michael C. Burgess, a physician, said Mr. Biden’s drug price negotiations resemble government price controls that lead to drug shortages.
“The current administration’s approach goes beyond ‘negotiating,'” he said in a statement. “Rather, it’s holding drug companies hostage, jeopardizing their future innovation and the well-being of American patients.”
Biden’s campaign aides said a debate with Republicans over health care costs was something Republicans wanted.
“The MAGA Republicans, who are running for president, want to repeal the Inflation Control Act, which would give big pharma a big win and increase the cost to the American people,” said the presidential campaign manager. ‘s Julie Chavez Rodriguez referred to Republicans loyal to former President Donald Trump. J Trump.
He said the election choice would be between Mr. Biden and “a series of candidates focused on extreme policies that put wealthy donors first.”
Robert Jimison contributed to the report.
