Approaching the Anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, Blunt Rochester Highlights Impact on Health Care Costs
Middletown,
August 11, 2023
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Victoria Panzera
(302-753-7684)
MIDDLETOWN, Del. - Today, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), along with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, hosted a roundtable at the Middletown Senior Center to highlight the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on lowering health care costs for seniors. The roundtable focused on three prescription drug cost-reducing provisions including strengthening Medicare Part D, Medicare drug price negotiation, and the $35/month cap on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries. “As we approach the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, not only have we seen inflation in the United States go down, we’ve seen the cost of health care for seniors go down as well,” said Blunt Rochester. “From allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of drugs to capping Medicare Part D insulin costs, to making improvements to Part D, the Inflation Reduction Act has helped bring costs down for seniors throughout Delaware and across the country.” “Thanks to the President’s new lower cost prescription drug law, Medicare beneficiaries won’t be put in the impossible position of having to choose between their necessary medication and vaccines and some other critical expense,” said HHS Acting Region 3 Director Melissa Herd. Blunt Rochester was joined by representatives from the health care sector including ChristianaCare and the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services as well as local advocacy organizations including the Delaware Pharmacists Society, the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, Westside Family Healthcare, Jewish Family Services, the Delaware Diabetes Coalition, and AARP Delaware. President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law on August 16, 2022, granting Medicare—for the first time in history—the power to directly negotiate the price of prescription drugs, stopping drug companies from increasing their prices faster than inflation, and capping out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 annually under Medicare Part D. The law also caps the out-of-pocket cost of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries at no more than $35 for a month’s supply. Blunt Rochester voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in the House on August 12, 2022.
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