AARP: Medicare drug caps will help more than 19,000 Granite Staters

Out-of-pocket drug costs will be limited to $2,000 starting next year under the Inflation Reduction Act, but the AARP warns that could change if Republicans succeed in repealing the federal caps on drug prices and out-of-pocket costs. (Photo Illustration by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

As many as 19,300 Medicare holders in New Hampshire could see their medication costs go up if Republicans succeed in repealing newly enacted federal caps on drug prices and out-of-pocket costs, according to a new report from AARP.

The Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allowed the federal government to negotiate drug prices for more than 60 million people who have drug coverage through their Medicare plan. The legislation has capped insulin costs at $35 a month and made vaccines free by eliminating cost sharing.

Next year, it is set to cap out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year.

In a press briefing Wednesday, AARP Executive Vice President Nancy Leamond cited a study that found Medicare recipients who reach the cap in 2025 will see a 56 percent savings in drug costs.

“Medicine is only effective if you have the money to pay for it,” Leamond said.

She added, “This is about real people, parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbors who will finally see relief from high drug costs and the fear that the price of their medications will spiral out of control.”

According to AARP’s report also released Wednesday, approximately 15,000 New Hampshire Medicare beneficiaries will benefit from the yearly out-of-pocket cap in 2025, the first year of the benefit.

By 2029, that number is estimated to reach 19,345, according to the report.

Christina FitzPatrick, state director of AARP New Hampshire, said in a statement Wednesday that, “Knowing they won’t pay a dime over $2,000 next year — maximum — for prescription drugs they get at the pharmacy gives Granite State seniors on Medicare drug plans some peace of mind as they struggle to keep up with rising costs for other everyday essentials like housing, groceries and utilities.”

Both presidential candidates have voiced support for controlling Medicare-covered drug prices.

Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to pass the legislation in 2022. Former president Donald Trump has said he favors forcing drug companies to make their medications available at the same prices they charge other countries.

Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s roadmap for the next  Republican president, calls for repealing the drug price-negotiation legislation.