By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., came to New Hampshire Tuesday to tout “consequential progress” in taking on what Sanders called “the greed of the pharmaceutical industry” through the Inflation Reduction Act.
The visit came the same day that a federal report was released showing that in the first half of 2024, almost 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries hit the new $3,500 cap on out-of-pocket costs created by the act and saved nearly $1 billion. Next year, the cap goes down to $2,000 coming as a cost relief to New Hampshire seniors.
They have already saved $17 million with the caps this year and after the first half of this year, over 5,000 residents already hit their out-of-pocket maximums, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, said U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH in welcoming the gathering at the gymnasium at NH Technical Institute in Concord.
The event was an invitation-only largely Democratic event attended by many state elected officials.
Biden was introduced by Concord’s Lauren Savage who said she has had to spend $500 a month for a heart medication, but is looking forward to having those prices capped next year at $2,000 out of pocket.
Biden said thanks to the state’s all Democratic, delegation, the Inflation Reduction Act was passed by Democrats, “saving the taxpayers billions of dollars.”
The Democrats are hoping good news like that will help propel their candidates to elected office with just two weeks to go before the Nov. 5 election.
High prescription drug prices are not just a political issue for some of the many Democrats who were invited to hear President Joe Biden speak Tuesday alongside Sanders here.
Rose Keller, who takes a single drug that costs $300,000 a year, was among those in the crowd who came to New Hampshire Technical Institute Tuesday.
“Everything that I hold dear is on the line in this election,” Keller said. If there is a political change it could impact her dramatically. In March, she introduced Biden to a crowd at the YMCA in Goffstown where the president also touted health care progress.
John and Donna Reardon of Concord, who are both retired from careers in construction and education, recently learned that a number of providers of Medicaid Advantage are not going to cover New Hampshire patients next year. He said that can mean they are facing a 25 percent premium increase.
“We have friends who are a little bit older than us. One has prostate cancer they have been treated for years and one of the drugs is very expensive,” and requires medical pre-approval, she said.
Though the visit to NHTI was on official White House business, and not a campaign stop, the election in two weeks featuring his Vice President, Kamala Harris against former President Donald Trump was on the minds of many in the crowd, who were selected to attend by the White House.
While there were many elected officials in attendance, the other issue which was coming to mind among those interviewed before being addressed by the Independent U.S. Senator and the outgoing President was education costs.
State Rep. Dianne Schuett, D-Pembroke, said she is running for re-election and while drug costs are an issue, the main thing in her town is education costs. The Reardons also expressed concerns about education as among their highest priorities in this election.
“We had at our school meeting this year, they cut $3 million from the school budget and so far it has led to the loss of 27 positions,” Schuett said.
She is hoping that outrage over the extensive school cuts will lead to a good turnout in her town which would possibly propel her to another term in office.
Both Biden and Sanders have worked on lowering prescription drug costs for years and most recently, capping the annual amount people pay out-of-pocket for Medicare.
Next year, the cap lowers to $2,000 for everyone with Medicare Part D. The report shows that if the $2,000 cap had been in effect this year, 4.6 million enrollees would have hit the cap by June 30 and would not have had to pay any more for the rest of the year.
Starting next year, the savings for seniors will be an additional $7.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs, said Neera Tanden, White House Domestic Policy Advisor in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH welcomed the crowd and underscored that good news.
She said the president brought us together to talk about the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. She noted it is a family issue because her granddaughter has been challenged by diabetes.
The sad truth, she said, is corporate greed has made drugs people need financially out of reach for some.
“There is still more to do,” she said.
Hassan also spoke and said through Biden’s lifetime he has worked on lowering health care costs.
“The good news,” she said, is the state delegation has taken great strides to reduce prescription drug costs.”
U.S. Congresswoman Annie Kuster, D-NH, said now, insulin for Medicare patients has been capped at $35 a month.
Sanders said in America today we are spending twice what other nations are on drugs.
People in this nation, despite their political stripes, are “sick and tired of paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” he said.
“If Congress has the guts to ignore,” the lobbyists, he said “and do the right thing, we can substantially lower the costs.”
Biden said he can place anyone in the audience on his plane, Air Force One, and take them to any other nation in the world and go to a pharmacy to pay half as much as in the United States for the very same drug.
He noted his Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act.
“We stuck together and finally got it done,” Biden said, calling that effort “big.”
The pharmaceutical industry spent $400 million dollars trying to defeat it, the president said.
Biden left the NHTI event to attend the Harris/Walz campaign office before he left the state.
Polls show that Harris leads Trump in New Hampshire but that the election is very close particularly in swing states.
