As he heads for a re-election campaign next year, President Biden is betting that his success in pushing for policies designed to reduce healthcare costs for millions of Americans will be rewarded by voters at the polls.
In speech after speech, Mr. Biden talks about capping the cost of insulin to $35, putting new limits on senior medical costs, making some vaccines free and pushing for the prices of some of the most expensive drugs in the world.
In the White House, Mr. Biden and his advisers have already begun to elevate the issue to the center of his agenda. And at his campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., aides prepare television ads, talking points and speeches arguing that Biden’s push for lower health care costs stands in stark contrast to his Republican opponents.
“The president is going to have to make a very strong case,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a member of the president’s national campaign advisory board. “People will not only want to keep the benefits they have seen, they will also want to receive the benefits that come their way.”
On Tuesday, the White House announced that the Biden administration will negotiate lower prices on behalf of Medicare recipients for ten popular — and expensive — drugs used to treat diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases.
This move was made possible by last year’s passage of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which for the first time allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices for older adults, a change the pharmaceutical industry has resisted for decades.
Republicans also generally oppose giving the government the right to negotiate drug prices. But the Republican presidential candidate has said little about the cost of drugs, focusing instead on abortion, medical issues for transgender people and Covid lockdowns.
In his speeches, Mr. Biden rails against the industry and his Republican opponents in Congress, all of whom voted against the bill that included prescription drug provisions. Employees say it’s an effective message.
“Today marks the start of a new patient deal where Big Pharma doesn’t just get a blank check at your expense,” the president said at an event at the White House to celebrate the change.
Since signing the bill a year ago, Biden has repeatedly called it one of his proudest legislative victories. But his approval ratings have barely changed. And while polls show that the new policy is highly popular among Americans who know about it, they also suggest that far fewer people even know the change has been made.
That’s highly likely because the prices of only the first handful of drugs won’t actually fall until 2026 at the earliest, assuming Biden’s program survives legal challenges. Drug companies have filed numerous lawsuits against the government claiming the law is unconstitutional. Lawsuits can drag on for years.
In its lawsuit against the government, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry trade group, called the negotiated pricing plan “a government mandate disguised as bargaining.”
Even if Biden’s plan goes into effect, older adults who have made the choice to ration their drugs will have to continue to do so for well over a year after the 2024 presidential election.
Danny Cottrell, 67, a pharmacist who owns his pharmacy group in Brewton, Alabama, said he regularly counseled his Medicare patients on the ins and outs of the government’s prescription program. He welcomed Mr Biden’s changes but said it’s up to people like him to explain the complicated process.
“I have to remind them that this doesn’t start until 2026,” Mr Cottrell said. “And then also remind them that this will change several times between now and then.”
Neera Tanden, Mr Biden’s chief domestic policy adviser, said the White House was confident the plan would survive legal challenges.
“It is absurd to claim that negotiations are unconstitutional,” she said in an interview. “There is nothing in the Constitution that says Medicare negotiating drug prices is unconstitutional.”
But more broadly, Ms. Tanden said she and the president’s other advisers in the West Wing were determined to make the pursuit of lower health care costs a central part of Mr. Biden’s message to Americans.
And next September, just weeks before election day, the government will announce the results of years of negotiations on the first ten drugs.
“We plan to do extensive work to really remind people of this issue,” Ms. Tanden said.
For the people leading Biden’s reelection campaign, the political benefits of focusing on lower health care costs are clear.
Some polls show that 80 percent of Americans are in favor of giving the government the ability to negotiate lower prices for Medicare, just as it already does for veterans and members of the military.
Campaigners said talking about lowering the cost of drugs or limits on out-of-pocket medical expenses is one way to help Mr Biden win support among seniors, who have traditionally voted for Republicans in greater numbers. That’s especially important in battlegrounds like Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Ohio, where building support among older adults will be critical in exciting battles.
The campaign’s early television commercials contained numerous references to the president’s efforts to reduce health care costs. A spokesperson for the campaign said the health care issue would be a central part of a $25 million ad blitz focused on what the president has done to reduce costs overall and drive economic progress.
Kate Bedingfield, who served as Biden’s director of communications for the first two years of his presidency, said the issue had political benefits, even when it came to appealing to people who don’t directly benefit from the specific cost savings.
“It is a very clear contrast to the Republicans, who have been and are still standing in the way of getting more done in this area,” she said.
Deputy Michael C. Burgess, a Texas Republican and physician, said Mr. Biden’s negotiations over drug prices were similar to government-imposed price controls that would lead to drug shortages.
“This government’s approach goes beyond just ‘negotiating’,” he said in a statement. “Instead, it holds drug companies hostage, jeopardizing their future innovation and the well-being of American patients.”
Mr Biden’s campaign aides said they would like to have a debate with Republicans on the cost of medical care.
“MAGA Republicans running for president want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which would be a huge win for Big Pharma and increase costs for the American people,” said Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the president’s campaign manager, referring to the Republicans loyal to former President Donald. J Trump.
She said the choice in the election was between Mr Biden and “a range of candidates focused on extreme policies that put their wealthy donors first.”
Robert Jimison reporting contributed.
