Senator Stabenow in Traverse City Highlighting Major Reforms to Lower Prescription Drug Costs

Inflation Reduction Act Lowers the Cost of Prescription Drugs, including Insulin and Health Insurance

Thursday, August 25, 2022

TRAVERSE CITY – U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow today highlighted major reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of prescription drugs. The Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law earlier this month. Stabenow was joined by Northwest Michigan Health Services CEO Heidi Britton, Certified Senior Advisor and Owner of Senior Benefit Solutions Fred Goldenberg, and Traverse City Resident Lynn Larson.

 

Senator Stabenow has been a longtime champion in the fight to cut the cost of prescription drugs and was instrumental in including major reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act. The law empowers Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices and caps the Medicare out-of-pocket cost of insulin to $35 per month. It also caps Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year, and allows people to spread their costs over monthly payments. In addition, it increases help for low-income seniors on Medicare, provides free Medicare coverage of all vaccines, and penalizes drug companies for price hikes in Medicare that exceed the rate of inflation. It also lowers costs for people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

  

“Americans pay the highest prices in the world for their prescription drugs and it’s outrageous! To add insult to injury, taxpayers provide hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for the basic research that brings the new drugs to market. That’s why lowering the cost of life-saving medicine has been a major priority for me for years,” said Senator Stabenow. “I am very proud that my Democratic colleagues joined me in standing up to Big Pharma to get Michiganders and all Americans the help they need so they can afford their medicine.”

 

“At Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc. we see firsthand how high-cost prescriptions for our senior patients is a barrier to their care. The great work done by Senator Stabenow removes these barriers to provide low-cost prescriptions to our most vulnerable,” said Northwest Michigan Health Services CEO Heidi Britton.

“With the ability of the Secretary of Health & Human Services to negotiate the prices for a number of high-priced drugs, we have the beginnings of real substantive change. For the first time I feel as we’ve taken a giant step in gaining control of a system that has been the ruination of many. It’s because of the efforts of Senator Stabenow and her colleagues that these first steps have moved from a dream to a reality. On behalf of my clients and myself, I thank you,” said Certified Senior Advisor and Owner of Senior Benefit Solutions Fred Goldenberg.

“Senator Stabenow has worked long and hard for Michigan. We seniors are especially grateful for all her efforts. The Inflation Reduction Act is proof of her critical work,” said Traverse City Resident Lynn Larson.

 

To learn more about the Inflation Reduction Act, click here.

 

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