By Yvonne Lumsden-Dill
Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, I was paying $22,000 per year for my life-saving medications under Medicare. This medication is non-negotiable for me. I have diabetes and a genetic mutation that I’ve needed treatment for since birth.
Vice President Harris’ actions to lower drug prices have changed my life. Before she and President Biden took on Big Pharma, patients were gouged and medication like insulin cost patients like me hundreds, even thousands of dollars, per month. Thanks to their legislation, I now pay $2,000 a year for my prescriptions. The Biden-Harris administration is saving me $20,000 a year.
These changes impact real people, millions of us. They have impacted me, friends, neighbors, and family. My neighbors who had to choose between purchasing their medication and necessities for their children no longer have to make that impossible choice.
As Vice President Harris says, we can’t go back to the days of Donald Trump. During his presidency, Trump was working overtime against lower and middle-class Americans. He and Republicans in Congress gave Big Pharma massive tax cuts in 2017. And a second term would be even worse. Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda would end the $35 insulin cap and raise the price of other prescription drugs. He even wants to repeal Obamacare, which protects people like me with pre-existing conditions so we can keep our insurance.
Vice President Harris has shown that she is working for us, and she picked a running mate who was already doing this work on a state level. Last week, Vice President Harris announced new measures to continue to lower healthcare costs for Americans. Including capping the cost of insulin to $35 for not only seniors but for everyone. She’s proposed capping the cost of out-of-pocket expenses for prescriptions to $2,000 and she is demanding transparency from pharmaceutical companies and increasing competition. This is why it is important more now than ever to make sure that we elect Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz to be the next President and Vice President of the United States of America.