Biden, Harris tout Medicare drug price reductions in joint rally appearance

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris touted their administration's achievements in reducing prescription drug prices Thursday in their first appearance together since Biden opted not to seek re-election.

The two appeared at Prince George 's County Community College at Largo, Md., in suburban Washington, D.C., to hail the coming of lower drug prices for Medicare enrollees under the provisions of one of the outgoing president's signature legislative achievements -- the $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

The law, which passed the Senate on Aug. 7, 2022, thanks to Harris' tiebreaking vote, for the first time allowed the federal government to negotiate drug prices with the nation's pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Two years after its passage, the IRA was praised by Biden and Harris as a landmark victory over "Big Pharma," benefitting not only seniors using Medicare but also U.S. taxpayers to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

"We finally beat Big Pharma," Biden said to chants of "Thank you, Joe" from the enthusiastic crowd.

He denounced what he called the pharmaceutical industry's "big profits" and warned that if victorious in November, Harris' opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump , and his congressional allies will try to roll back the government's ability to negotiate prices as called for in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 roadmap for the next GOP presidency.

"They want to repeal Medicare's power to negotiate drug prices, let Big Pharma back to charge whatever they want," he said. "Let me tell you what our Project 2025 is: Beat the hell out of them."

In introducing Biden, Harris -- who earlier this month wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination -- signaled her intention to tout consumer price relief as one of the keynote issues of her campaign in the coming weeks.

"My entire career, I have worked to hold bad actors accountable and lower the cost of prescription drugs," she said. "Medicare can use that (collective bargaining) power to go toe-to-toe with Big Pharma and negotiate lower drug prices."

The rally came hours after the Department of Health and Human Services announced it had successfully negotiated huge price reductions for 10 of the most expensive prescribed pharmaceuticals for Medicare Part D users starting in January 2026

Under the deal announced Thursday , the Biden administration said it had agreements with major drug manufacturers on new negotiated, lower drug prices for the first 10 drugs selected for its Medicare drug price negotiation program.

These new prices will cut the list price of the drugs between 38% and 79%, in so doing reversing a trend of steadily rising prices since they were introduced. The administration said it will save U.S. consumers $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs.

The pharmaceutical industry on Thursday blasted the agreements. One drugmaker, Novartis, said in a statement the price-setting provisions of the IRA "are unconstitutional and will have long-lasting and devastating consequences for patients by limiting access to medicines now and in the future."

Its heart failure drug Entresto is included on the list of 10 drugs covered by the initial tranche of price reductions, under which the cost of a 30-day supply will be reduced by 53%.

The company said it was coerced under the process since its only other options were "catastrophic fines or the removal of all our products from both Medicare and Medicaid.

"The price-setting process is not objective or transparent and does not reflect the true value of a medicine," it said.

Also included on the list is Stelara, manufactured by Janssen Biotech Inc., which is prescribed to treat psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and other diseases.

Now used by 23,000 Medicare enrollees, its current list price for a 30-day supply is $13,836. But under the price reduction program, that cost will be slashed by 66% to $4,695. The out-of-pocket cost for a Medicare enrollee now paying $3,459 per month for Stelara will be reduced to $1,174 in 2026, the administration said.

Medicare will select up to 15 additional drugs covered under Part D for negotiation in 2025, up to an additional 15 Part B and D drugs in 2026, and up to 20 drugs every year after that under the program.

Also under the IRA, some Medicare Part D enrollees who have high drug costs have seen out-of-pocket drug costs capped at about $3,500 annually. In the first quarter of this year, more than 260,000 people benefited from this cap in the catastrophic coverage phase, meaning they will pay no more out-of-pocket through the remainder of 2024.

Starting in January, the benefit will be extended -- everyone with Part D will have their out-of-pocket costs capped at $2,000, the HHS said .

Harris is expected to continue the theme of consumer protection in a solo appearance Friday in the battleground state of North Carolina, during which she will target the high price of groceries and place the blame on monopolistic practices and price gouging by food industry giants.

Trump, meanwhile, has a rally scheduled in another battleground state, Pennsylvania, as the Democrats prepare for next week's national convention in Chicago.