Thanks to Biden and Harris’ price cuts, seniors in Virginia can save on prescription drug costs.

Margaret Pierce was eager to retire. She would turn 65 in 2022 and had worked continuously since her teens, most recently for 11 years as an administrative assistant in Springfield, Virginia.

There was just one big problem. Pierce has type 1 diabetes and, under Medicare, would have had to spend $400 a month on the two types of insulin she needs.

“I was just shocked,” she says. “There was no way I could afford that.”

In 2023, however, Pierce experienced a nicer surprise. The Biden-Harris administration Inflation Reduction Act limited the price of insulin for seniors to $35 a month. Pierce immediately resigned.

“It was so great for me,” she says. “I just thought, ‘Wow, the Democrats are OK!'”

In Virginia, as across the United States, the rising price of insulin has forced diabetics to make painful choices. Some have been forced to choose food or rent over health care. It all stems from a shameful systemic problem: Americans are paying 2.56 times more for prescription Drugs than in 32 other countries.

The Biden-Harris administration is reducing the cost of prescription drugs

In 2023, however, the Biden-Harris administration began to ease the pressure. Dramatic new price cuts are now helping tens of thousands of Virginia MEdiCare beneficiaries who rely on insulin and other prescription drugs to treat their diabetes.

• Medicare recipients – including 74,000 seniors in Virginia who used insulin in 2020 – now have to pay no more than $35 per month for insulin, compared to a national Average $54.
• Starting in 2023, out-of-pocket costs for vaccines, such as those against shingles, will be eliminated under Part D, helping tens of thousands of state Medicare beneficiaries.
• From 2025, for the first time, the almost 1 million residents of Virginia With Medicare Part D, seniors have the relief of having their out-of-pocket costs capped for all medications. No senior will have to pay more than $2,000 per year for these life-saving drugs.

These changes are just the beginning of cost-saving reforms

• Starting in 2026, the Democrats’ IRA will cover the costs of 10 other medications for Medicare recipients.
• The 10 medicines, The cost of medications to treat conditions such as heart failure, blood clots, arthritis and Crohn’s disease are the highest expenses included in Medicare Part D.
• Assuming the Democrats remain in power, Medicare plans to raise prices on up to 60 more drugs over the next four years, and then add 20 more each year..

Currently, the aid only benefits older Americans, but Democrats want to expand it to all age groups so that no one has to choose between health care and food and housing.