Medicare drug price negotiations will lower costs and save lives • Minnesota Reformer

Last week, the Biden-Harris administration celebrated a major milestone in health care affordability.

For the first time, Medicare is allowed to use its purchasing power to negotiate drug prices. The first round of drug prices reduces the cost of ten of the most expensive and popular drugs for the treatment of diseases such as diabetesHeart failure, blood clots and autoimmune diseases.

This major victory for seniors has been decades in the making and is part of the historic Inflation Reduction Act that will reduce health care costs for Minnesotans from all walks of life.

The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program will save seniors and taxpayers billions – including easing 119,000 residents of Minnesota Medicare beneficiaries who currently take one or more of these drugs. And these first ten drugs are just the beginning of efforts to use Medicare's bulk purchasing power to lower costs.

I took one of the top ten drugs, Enbrel, for 25 years to treat my rheumatoid arthritis. Enbrel worked wonders for my symptoms and allowed me to live without pain and stiffness. Unfortunately, Enbrel was too expensive for me, like so many other Minnesotans.

With private insurance, my Enbrel copayment was $65 a month. When I switched to Medicare three years ago, my copayment for my dose rose to $2,000 a month – a price that was unaffordable for my family.

Luckily, my husband found a nonprofit that helped me lower my copayment to $10 a month. Instead of taking the prescribed doses, I skipped doses to build up a supply of medication while I could afford the copayments, and worried that the cost would skyrocket again.

Unfortunately, the cost relief didn't last long. The nonprofit ran out of funds and I was once again faced with an exorbitant monthly payment of $2,000. I could no longer afford Enbrel and since it was the middle of the year, I couldn't switch to another insurance company.

While caring for my terminally ill mother, I ran out of Enbrel, and while helping her pack and unpack her house, my illness flared up again. It wasn't until my husband got a new job with the federal government that I was able to get access to the medication again. Thanks to his health insurance, I can now afford this prescription and my symptoms have subsided.

Prescription drugs don't help if people can't afford them. And for far too long, pharmaceutical companies have charged Americans much more than citizens of other countries.

People in their 70s shouldn't have to go back into the workforce to afford affordable prescription drugs. Medicare's new drug prices — along with the $2,000 out-of-pocket limit that goes into effect next year — will help people like me get access to our medicines and breathe easier.

For Medicare beneficiaries, the Inflation Reduction Act, which celebrated its second anniversary last week, also caps monthly insulin costs at $35, makes recommended vaccinations free and penalizes drug companies that raise their prices faster than inflation. Starting next year, drug costs for seniors will be capped at $2,000 a year, which will help families like mine. And for Minnesotans who buy their health insurance on the MNSure marketplace, the Inflation Reduction Act significantly lowers monthly premiums.

The Biden-Harris administration and politicians like Governor Tim Walz, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Representative Angie Craig and other Democrats in Congress have taken bold steps to reduce health care costs. They want to extend those savings to all Americans and make the premium tax credits permanent.

On the other hand, Republicans voted unanimously against the Inflation Reduction Act, and Trump and his MAGA allies are working behind the scenes to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, including all measures to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and health care. Project 2025 in particular would set us back by giving more tax breaks to pharmaceutical and insurance companies, leaving hard-working families across the country to foot the bill.

This year, we are at a turning point in health care. Will politicians side with seniors like me and build on the Inflation Reduction Act and the Affordable Care Act to ensure that everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, can get the care they need? Or will they side with big drug companies and giant insurance companies, as MAGA Republicans have promised?

I urge everyone to learn more about the health priorities of the politicians running for election in November.

My health is at stake, and so is yours.