14 October, IRVINE, California (Reuters) – Friday, while campaigning for fellow Democrats in November’s midterm elections, Vice President Joe Biden blasted Republicans and drug firms during a visit to a California community college.
The vice president will make appearances in California and Oregon on Friday and Saturday, respectively, as he seeks to present his party, the Democrats, as a champion of consumers and reduced healthcare prices at a time when inflation rates are among voters’ top concerns. On November 8, midterm elections will occur.
“We went up against Big Pharma, and we finally beat them,” Biden said, referring to the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions that allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, cap the amount seniors pay for prescriptions, and lower the price of insulin prescriptions for Medicare recipients to $35.
If Democrats keep the House and Senate, Biden said the price of insulin for all Americans would be capped at $35. Most predictions say that Democrats will have a small edge in the Senate, while Republicans will have a bigger edge in the House.
He said that if Republicans get in charge, they will get rid of the price caps on prescription drugs and stop Medicare from being able to negotiate drug prices.
More than 1,000 yelling protesters met Biden’s car in Irvine. They were calling for democracy in Iran, where anti-government demonstrations have been going on for weeks.
Joe Biden supports Iranians’ right to freedom
In his speech, the president talked about the protests and said that the US stood with the Iranian people.
“Here’s the truth. Corporate greed affects health outcomes, rips off taxpayers, and threatens our capitalist economy, Porter argued.
“He was struck by the protests from Iranian Americans,” a White House spokesman stated. “He wanted to comment on it early”
Katie Porter, a Democrat who has interrogated bank and drug company executives on profits, presented the president.
Biden ordered HHS to detail how it will employ new care and payment models to lower medication costs within ninety days.
Consumer prices in the U.S. rose 8.2% in the 12 months through September, after peaking above 9% in the summer. Food, rent, and healthcare costs drove up prices last month.
Obamacare’s Innovation Center gives HHS the flexibility to encourage new approaches to decreasing costs and expanding care. Medicare’s expense to taxpayers has been criticized for 65 million Americans.
