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drug prices
Hey GOP! No One Voted to Cut Social Security
Let there be no doubt: Trump and the Republicans will try to cut our earned benefits. But just as a grassroots movement around the country succeeded in saving the Affordable Care Act during Trump’s first term, we can save Social Security and Medicare.
Nov 13, 2024
No one voted to cut Social Security. No one voted to cut Medicare. And no one voted for higher drug prices.
Donald Trump ran on a promise to protect Social Security and Medicare. Based on Trump’s long record of working to cut and undermine our earned benefits, we don’t trust that promise for one second. But we plan to make him keep it.
There’s a good reason Trump didn’t campaign on cutting Social Security: Ninety-two percent of Americans think that’s a terrible idea.
What will Trump do once he’s actually in the White House? During his first term, he tried to cut Social Security every single year. He appointed an unqualified crony, Andrew Saul, to head the Social Security Administration. And he surrounded himself with advisors who had long records of working to cut and privatize Social Security.
Now, Trump has a new advisor, Elon Musk. He just put Musk in charge of a commission to slash $2 trillion of federal spending. That is essentially impossible without cutting Social Security, Medicare, and/or Medicaid. Indeed, incoming Vice President JD Vance has specifically said that Musk will target Social Security.
We are never going to stop fighting to protect and expand Social Security.
Musk is the wealthiest man in the world. It’s no surprise that Musk and his fellow billionaires want to cut our earned benefits rather than pay their fair share in taxes.
Trump’s top priority is to extend the tax cuts he gave the ultra-wealthy in his first term. Then, Republicans will turn around and claim that we “can’t afford” Social Security and Medicare.
Republicans in Congress have already telegraphed what those cuts could look like. The Republican Study Committee (RSC), a caucus that counts over 80 percent of House Republicans as members, released a budget proposal earlier this year that makes massive cuts to Social Security. That includes raising the retirement age to 69, and decimating benefits for the middle class.
The RSC budget would also repeal Medicare’s power to negotiate lower drug prices. That means seniors and people with disabilities would have to turn over more of their hard-earned Social Security checks to Big Pharma.
In case anyone doubted that Republicans are serious about passing these cuts into law, House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (who angrily chased me down the street last year after I confronted him about his support for Social Security cuts) just pledged to cut health care benefits through reconciliation—meaning that Republicans would only need 50 votes in the Senate.
Trump and Republicans will try to cut our earned benefits. But just as a grassroots movement of Americans around the country succeeded in saving the Affordable Care Act during Trump’s first term, we can save Social Security and Medicare.
Musk is the wealthiest man in the world. It’s no surprise that Musk and his fellow billionaires want to cut our earned benefits rather than pay their fair share in taxes.
Here’s how:
- Hold Every Republican Accountable: Republicans will have only a slim majority in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Every member of the House, and one-third of the Senate, is on the ballot in 2026. We will target every Republican in a competitive district with protests and billboards saying: Hands off our Social Security and Medicare!
- Keep Democrats Unified: There’s nothing Republicans want more than bipartisan cover for benefit cuts. Democrats must stand united and refuse to give it to them. We are calling on every Democrat in Congress to stand strong against even one penny of cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
- Refuse To Go Behind Closed Doors: Republicans want to create a closed-door, fast-track commission to cut benefits without political accountability. We’ve beaten back this type of commission before, and we’re prepared to do so again. Any changes to Social Security must happen through regular Congressional order, in the light of day.
We are never going to stop fighting to protect and expand Social Security. Social Security has stood strong for nearly a century. It has survived wars, depressions, and pandemics. And with your help, it will survive Donald Trump.
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Harris' Cap on Drug Costs Would Save Americans Billions of Dollars
"Vice President Harris is working to bring relief to patients who are struggling to afford to care for themselves as part of her bigger plan to lower drug costs," said Public Citizen's co-president.
Nov 01, 2024
As Republican former U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to "terminate" a 2022 law that cut prescription costs for seniors, his Democratic opponent in next week's election, Vice President Kamala Harris, is pushing for an expansion of the policy that could save Americans billions of dollars, according to research released Friday.
Two years ago, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), capping annual out-of-pocket costs for patients with Medicare Part D; it's currently around $3,500 but set to drop to $2,000 next year. The Biden White House's budget for fiscal year 2025 and the Harris campaign have both advocated for extending that cap to people with private health insurance.
The government watchdog group Public Citizen found that if implemented in 2022, "a $2,000 annual cap would have reached more than 900,000 patients with private insurance, saving them a total of $2.78 billion, equating to over $3,000 in savings per patient."
Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman said in a statement Friday that "no one should ever have to choose between taking their medicine and putting food on the table."
"Vice President Harris is working to bring relief to patients who are struggling to afford to care for themselves as part of her bigger plan to lower drug costs," he continued. "This proposed cap must work in tandem with a bigger, bolder congressional effort to stop pharmaceutical companies from price gouging treatments. We cannot let Big Pharma continue to take advantage of American patients and put more strain on our healthcare system."
"We cannot let Big Pharma continue to take advantage of American patients and put more strain on our healthcare system."
Based on Public Citizen's analysis of data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for 2022, if the IRA had featured a $1,000 annual cap, 4.1 million Medicare enrollees would have collectively saved $4.53 billion, or an average of almost $1,100, while nearly 2.7 million patients with private insurance would have saved $4.38 billion, or over $1,600 each.
If the IRA had gone even further with a $200 annual cap, the group found, more than 18 million Medicare enrollees would have saved a total of $11.42 billion, or over $600 each, while nearly 21 million of those with private insurance would have saved $10.55 billion, or more than $500 per patient.
Such savings could significantly improve patients' lives, Public Citizen argued, pointing out that "due to the high costs of prescription drugs, nearly a third of Americans do not take medications as prescribed. This includes cutting pills in half, skipping doses, not filling a prescription, or taking over-the-counter drugs instead of filling a prescription due to cost barriers."
"The imperative of lowering costs for patients to improve adherence and relieve financial stress is clear, but unless OOP cost caps are passed alongside policies to lower the prices drug corporations charge for medicines, they risk shifting costs onto other patients through higher premiums as well as other healthcare payers," the report warns. "The federal government could provide relief, but without reducing prices, taxpayers would be left on the hook."
As an example of a bill that Harris and Democrats could pursue if they win the White House and Congress next week, Public Citizen highlighted a Congressional Budget Office estimate that "the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act would lower spending by more than $450 billion over 10 years, compared to the $101 billion in savings it projected for drug price reforms passed through the Inflation Reduction Act."
"That legislation, which was passed unanimously by House Democrats, went further than reforms included in the Inflation Reduction Act by using international reference pricing, increasing the number of drugs negotiated each year, expanding negotiation eligibility (including by allowing negotiations for expensive medicines without delay periods), and providing access to negotiated prices in private insurance," the group noted.
As Common Dreamsreported earlier this week, drug companies are already battling the IRA's drug cost policies—including allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of some commonly used medications—in court while raking in massive profits.
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Despite Profit Surge, Novartis Still Suing to Prevent Lower Drug Prices
"Novartis seeing its profits double serves as another reminder that Big Pharma can afford to negotiate more reasonable prices for seniors."
Oct 29, 2024
As Novartis released its third-quarter financial report on Tuesday, one watchdog pointed out that the Swiss pharmaceutical giant's profits have jumped from the same period last year but it is still suing over a 2022 law that cut prescription drug prices.
"Novartis seeing its profits double serves as another reminder that Big Pharma can afford to negotiate more reasonable prices for seniors," Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk said in a statement responding to the company's financial report.
Several drug companies are challenging drug price policies from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which enabled Medicare negotiations with Big Pharma to cut the costs of some widely used medications. A federal judge rejected Novartis' suit on October 18—the eighth such legal victory for patients—but the company has already filed an appeal.
Novartis said that its "momentum in Q3" is thanks to "sales growth driven by continued strong performance" from psoriasis drug Cosentyx, heart failure treatment Entresto, multiple sclerosis treatment Kesimpta, breast cancer drug Kisqali, high cholesterol treatment Leqvio, and prostate cancer drug Pluvicto.
As Euronewsreported Tuesday:
Sales of the flagship prostate cancer drug, Pluvicto, increased by 50%. It is based on new so-called radioligand therapy which is a form of targeted nuclear medicine used to treat multiple types of cancer and has a booming market in the U.S.
The drug is now on the market in several E.U. countries, however, its price (around $42,500 in the U.S., which translates to just under €40,000) leaves some uncertainty over whether health systems in Europe will be able to afford it.
Meanwhile, Entresto was among the 10 medications included in the first round of Medicare negotiations. Accountable.US noted Tuesday that it "is among the most expensive prescriptions for Medicare patients. Under the new program, the drug is now priced at $295 per 30-day supply, translating to $333 in savings per prescription."
Cutting drug costs has been a priority for U.S. President Joe Biden, who signed the IRA, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee facing former Republican President Donald Trump in the November 5 election.
"After years of big drug companies prioritizing profits over patients' health, the Biden-Harris drug negotiation program is working to put seniors' needs and pocketbooks first," said Accountable.US' Carrk.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last week that "nearly 1.5 million people with Medicare Part D saved nearly $1 billion in out-of-pocket prescription drugs costs in the first half of 2024" because of the 2022 law.
"All Americans should be able to access the healthcare they need—no matter their income," Harris said last week in response to the HHS data on seniors' savings. "That is why our administration fought to lower healthcare costs with the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation that I was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote on in the Senate."
"We have been able to cut prescription drug costs, cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors, and lower premiums for those on Medicare," Harris highlighted. "Our administration has also reached unprecedented agreements with pharmaceutical companies to lower prices for the first 10 drugs selected for the Medicare price negotiation program—10 of the most widely used and expensive drugs that treat conditions ranging from cancer to diabetes. And there is still much more to come."
"I have seen the impact of fighting to protect patients up close. As attorney general, I held Big Pharma accountable for their deceptive and illegal practices—winning settlements that amounted to more than $7 billion against pharmaceutical companies for their unsafe and unfair tactics," she continued, referring to her former role in California. "I will never stop fighting for the health, well-being, and financial stability of the American people."
Harris has campaigned on accelerating Medicare negotiations and expanding the health program for seniors—though doing so would likely require her party to also win both chambers of Congress in next week's election.
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