skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, July 26, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

Biden’s Medicare Move Projected to Lower Drug Prices, Federal Deficit

play audio
Play

Tuesday, October 18, 2022   

Over the next 10 years, some 64 million people on Medicare, and American taxpayers, will save $100 billion, thanks to provisions in President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which once again allows Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies.

Todd Stubbendieck, state director for AARP Nebraska, said it is something the Department of Veterans Affairs has been doing for years, saving taxpayers billions of dollars.

"For years Big Pharma has had a blank check," Stubbendieck asserted. "Whatever they said the cost was, was what Medicare had to pay. Medicare is a big customer when it comes to buying prescription drugs. This finally allows them to bring down those prices."

Just as Costco or Sam's Club leverages their buying power to lower prices for customers, Stubbendieck explained Medicare will be able to do the same thing. Industry groups have criticized the move, claiming its current pricing structure provides research-and-development funds, which have produced groundbreaking new medicines.

AARP and other groups had been working to reverse a law passed by Congress two decades ago which blocked Medicare from negotiating prices, but were unable to overcome powerful lobbying efforts. Big Pharma spends $233 million a year to get lawmakers to vote their way.

Stubbendieck is not convinced drug-company pricing has been linked to research and development costs.

"I think that argument would hold a lot more water if American consumers were paying the same prices for drugs that folks around the world were paying," Stubbendieck contended. "American seniors are paying two to three times the cost for these drugs as people in other countries."

Medicare provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act are projected to reduce the federal deficit by $237 billion. The cost of insulin will be capped at $35 per month, and drug companies will have to pay rebates if prices rise faster than inflation. Out-of-pocket costs for older Americans will also be capped at $2,000 per year.

Disclosure: AARP Nebraska contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Consumer Issues, Health Issues, and Senior Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
According to the Tax Policy Center, for higher-income earners, sales taxes consume a lower share of their income than for other households. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details …


play sound

Traveling around rural Minnesota can be difficult but in more than half the state, nonprofit transit systems are helping people get where they need …

Social Issues

play sound

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference. The Biden administration has canceled more …


Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to codify the Chevron Deference into law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent Supreme Court rulings on air pollution are affecting Virginia and the nation. Climate advocates said the court overstepped its bounds in …

Health and Wellness

play sound

World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the …

The Gender Shades project revealed facial recognition performed poorest for darker-skinned women, and performed best for lighter-skinned men. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Columbia County, New York, is implementing new facial recognition and privacy policies, following new upgrades to the county's surveillance cameras…

Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 …

Social Issues

play sound

As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021