| WASHINGTON D.C. — Today marks the second anniversary of President Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law, a historic reform and monumental victory for the millions of Americans who depend on Medicare for their essential medications. Throughout the week, Patients For Affordable Drugs patient advocates participated in events celebrating different provisions of the drug price law and shared their experiences with high drug prices and the relief being delivered through the drug price reforms.
The Inflation Reduction Act is already lowering prescription drug costs for millions of people on Medicare by capping the cost of insulin, capping out-of-pocket costs, ensuring free recommended vaccines, and yesterday, the new lower prices or the first 10 widely-used, high-cost drugs under Medicare negotiation were announced and will deliver further relief to roughly nine million patients on Medicare.
“The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act was a game-changer — breaking Big Pharma’s two-decades-long stranglehold on Medicare drug prices and patients’ lives,” said P4AD Executive Director Merith Basey. “Patients fought hard for the drug price reforms in the law, and over the last two years, patients on Medicare have finally begun to feel some overdue relief from the sky-high costs dictated by profit-hungry pharmaceutical giants. This law begins to end the pharmaceutical industry’s monopoly pricing power, making historic progress in the fight to lower drug prices. Patients For Affordable Drugs stands firmly on the frontlines with patients from all 50 States, fiercely defending these reforms against pharma’s legal assaults and pushing to extend these life-changing benefits to everyone in this country. We won’t rest until every patient has access to the drugs they need at prices they can afford.”
Throughout the week, P4AD patient advocates participated in events to tout the benefits of the law and advocate for further reforms:
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On Thursday, Judy Aiken, a retired nurse from Portland, ME, who spent over $9,000 out-of-pocket last year on one drug, introduced President Biden at an event focused on the new lower prices under the historic Medicare negotiation program. Judy’s prescription for Enbrel, one of the first 10 drugs negotiated, will have a reduced price of $2,355 per month beginning in 2026 – a 67 percent reduction in price. Additionally, Judy met her out-of-pocket cap of $3,500 in March of 2024, which was life-changing for her family. Judy also had the opportunity to share her story directly with President Biden earlier in the week.
On Wednesday, Kaye Peterson a retired librarian from Lebanon, KY, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 40 years, and Judy Aiken participated in a celebratory patient community call hosted by P4AD Founder David Mitchell and AARP, with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Beccera joining as a special guest. Kaye and Judy shared their stories and the relief felt because of the out-of-pocket cap provision in the Inflation Reduction Act.
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Earlier that same day, Jackie Trapp, a patient advocate from Muskego, WI, participated in a press call alongside Senator Amy Klobuchar, P4AD Executive Director Merith Basey, and Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk for a conversation about the benefits of the new negotiated prices under Medicare. Before the introduction of the new out-of-pocket cap this year, Jackie faced as much as $20,000 per year in costs for her drugs to manage her multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer.
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On Tuesday, Bob Parant, a retired health insurance sales executive, who has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 50 years, and Steven Hadfield, a 71-year-old patient living with rare blood cancer and type 2 diabetes, who works two jobs to afford his medication, participated in a panel hosted by the White House about the Inflation Reduction Act and what the $35 insulin copay cap means for them.
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Patients For Affordable Drugs is the only national, bipartisan patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on policies that lower prescription drug prices. We empower and mobilize patients by amplifying their experiences with high drug prices to hold those in power to account and fight to shape and achieve system-changing policies that make prescription drugs affordable for all people in the United States. P4AD does not accept funding from organizations that profit from the development and distribution of drugs.
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