Author Doug Hart is a veteran, husband, father, and grandfather. A former president of the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, he continues to be an active member. He has lived in AZ for 22 years.
We stand before yet another crossroads for our health care. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris administration lowered health care costs for tens of millions of people. However, MAGA Republicans have continued their war on health care, vowing to rip away health care coverage, dismantle protections for pre-existing conditions, and throw our health care system into chaos.
We recently celebrated the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act and we are seeing real progress from this legislation every day. Medicare is negotiating lower prices for the costliest drugs, including medications that treat conditions like diabetes, heart failure, blood clots, and autoimmune disorders. For people with Medicare, the law also caps monthly insulin costs at $35, provides free recommended vaccines, and penalizes drug companies that increase prices faster than inflation. Starting next year, seniors’ drug costs are capped at $2,000 annually, while there was previously no limit on what they had to pay.
RELATED: New limit on prescription drug costs would be removed under Project 2025
The Inflation Reduction Act was a game-changer for me and millions nationwide. I take Eliquis, a blood thinner. Eliquis costs $1.61 per pill in Canada, but here it costs $5 more at $6.61 per pill. I take it twice daily, which adds up to over $300 per month. The fact that the cost of Eliquis is now part of the Medicare prescription drug cost negotiations, combined with the $2,000 annual price cap on out-of-pocket costs, has already saved me thousands of dollars and will save me thousands more in the coming years.
The Inflation Reduction Act also lowered premium costs for people who buy coverage on their own through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Together, these policies are saving people like me thousands of dollars on health care costs, giving us much-needed financial breathing room.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took on big drug companies and won this decades-long fight. However, Project 2025, a dangerous policy roadmap for another Trump presidency developed by the Heritage Foundation, would undo all of the monumental progress the Biden-Harris administration has made to lower costs. Not only did Republicans unanimously vote against the Inflation Reduction Act, but Trump and his MAGA allies, including David Schweikert, are working behind the scenes to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, including all of the measures to lower prescription drug and health care costs.
Project 2025 would move us backward by giving more tax breaks to drug and insurance companies, leaving hardworking families across the nation to foot the bill. Their radical healthcare agenda is no exception, as they have vowed to raise prescription drug and premium costs and strip away health care from millions of Americans. And while Trump has already tried and failed to repeal the ACA, he is promising to do it again. If Trump and his allies get their way, 40 million Americans could lose coverage, and nearly 20 million would pay higher premiums, while seniors on Medicare would pay more for their prescription drugs.
The 2024 election is shaping up to be another referendum on health care, and if Donald Trump wins, our benefits are undoubtedly on the chopping block. On the other hand, Vice President Harris wants to build upon the Inflation Reduction Act and the ACA so everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, can get the care they need.
