Lower Drug Costs for Seniors
Recently, the White House put out a briefing regarding the Biden-Harris administration accomplishing one of their goals - lowering medical costs for Americans.
This particular one is negotiating lower drug prices for Medicare that go into effect in 2026 citing that the change could save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket drug prices the very first year.
There is a lot to unpack in a move like this but I will focus on three key elements that stand out and we should take seriously.
Government does have negotiating power with large companies and, when leveraged, can make positive social and economic moves for citizens. This feels like the right use of government’s power for the creation of a more economically viable situation.
“Big Pharma” and social good have to be connected and in a lot of ways they are. The pharmaceutical industry cannot simply be a profit machine. The brief notes that the first wave of drugs on the list have been increasing in price since they came on the market. It is not cheap to create medicines and we have to make sure people have access to good healthcare. Both can live together.
This further highlights how important it is that we take seriously the cost of the last quarter of life. The Future Poor is all about that aim and medical expenses are one of the key areas that impacts the financial well being of seniors.
Two of the Social Determinants of Health are Economic Stability and Access to Quality Health Care. This move to negotiate lower prescription costs is a step towards both. I hope that there is more to come.
Here is the link to the White House brief.
As always, if you come across a financially related article you’d like to send my way please do!
Best place to send them is to me.
More next time!
Jonathan