More Bidenomics: Ten More Drugs Now Subject to Price Negotiations with Medicare

 In another example of how Bidenomics is about helping people, expanding the middle class, and lifting up the impoverished, the Biden/Harris Administration announced today (August 29, 2023,) that ten drugs have been selected for price negotiation with Medicare.

With new prices set to take effect in 2026, these drugs and what they treat are:

• Eliquis: Prevention and treatment of blood clots.
• Jardiance: Diabetes; Heart failure.
• Xarelto: Prevention and treatment of blood clots; Reduction of risk for patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease.
• Januvia: Diabetes
• Farxiga: Diabetes; Heart failure; Chronic kidney disease.
• Entresto: Heart Failure.
• Enbrel: Rheumatoid arthritis; Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis.
• Imbruvica: Blood Cancers.
• Stelara: Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis
• Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill: Diabetes.

For senior citizens with these illnesses, this announcement, if followed through after the 2024 Presidential Election, could be a God send. 

In a White House Statement, President Joe Biden said of the momentous event:

"For far too long, Americans have paid more for prescription drugs than any major economy. And while the pharmaceutical industry makes record profits, millions of Americans are forced to choose between paying for medications they need to live or paying for food, rent, and other basic necessities. Those days are ending.

Today, my Administration announced the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs that have been selected for price negotiation — for the first time ever. They are among the most common and costly prescriptions that treat everything from heart failure, blood clots, diabetes, arthritis, Crohn’s disease – and more. This is on top of progress we made in reducing the cost of insulin to $35 a month for seniors on Medicare.

We’ve reached this milestone because of the Inflation Reduction Act– one of the most significant laws ever enacted, and one that passed with the leadership of Democrats in Congress. We took on Big Pharma and special interests, overcoming opposition from every Republican in Congress, and the American people won.

When implemented, prices on negotiated drugs will decrease for up to 9 million seniors. These seniors currently pay up to $6,497 in out-of-pocket costs per year for these prescriptions. In addition, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports that this will save taxpayers $160 billion by reducing how much Medicare pays for drugs through negotiation and inflation rebates.

This plan is a key part of Bidenomics, my economic vision for growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up – not the top down. And it’s working. That’s why Big Pharma has already filed eight lawsuits against my Administration, and spent nearly $400 million last year to try to stop our progress. Let me be clear: I am not backing down. There is no reason why Americans should be forced to pay more than any developed nation for life-saving prescriptions just to pad Big Pharma’s pockets. For many Americans, the cost of one drug is the difference between life and death, dignity and dependence, hope and fear. That is why we will continue the fight to lower healthcare costs – and we will not stop until we finish the job."

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Campaign Manager for Biden-Harris 2024 issued a statement, writing:

"For decades, presidents have tried to take on Big Pharma on behalf of seniors, but President Biden finally got it done. Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, millions of seniors, including those taking life-saving medication to prevent heart failure or to manage chronic diseases like diabetes, will see their drug costs significantly lowered. Today’s announcement is on top of capping insulin costs for seniors at $35 a month, and permanent health care subsidies that are making health care cheaper for the American people.

Elections have consequences. Because a historic number of Americans came together in 2020 to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, seniors across America will begin paying less when they pick up their medicine at the pharmacy. That is what delivering results looks like.

But that progress is all on the line in 2024. MAGA Republicans running for president want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which would deliver a massive win for Big Pharma and increase costs for the American people. The choice in this election is between a President focused on you, and a slate of candidates focused on extreme policies that put their wealthy donors first."

The President with Vice President Kamala Harris also appeared at a White House event to celebrate the announcement.

President Biden and his campaign manager are right. 

This election is about fighting for the disadvantaged over the advantaged. 

Voters would be wise to consider which team is for and has fought for the middle and working class and which one has not. 

Smarsh and Abernathy from August 25, 2023

 

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Editorial Cartoons for the Week

 

The Biden/Harris Campaign Move On.Org and The Lincoln Project Go After Republican Presidential Contenders After Their Disastrous Debate and Trump

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a two-hour video showcasing eight people running for President who have expressed views out of since with the great majority of the American People? 

The Wednesday debate between eight of the Republican presidential contenders, absent Donald Trump (who was too cowardly to attend,) was not even over when Moveon.org released an ad, called "Disqualify Trump," demanding the disqualification of the 45th occupant of the White House for his four indictments and 91 charges.

The ad also called for disqualifying the candidates that would support Trump (it turns out there were six of them on the stage at the debate) despite the indictments and charges against him.

The Biden/Harris Campaign wasted no time either, releasing an ad going after the Republican Presidential Candidate's commitment to a ban on reproductive freedom. 

Called "These Guys," the ad shows Trump and some of the Republican Presidential Contenders (Ron DeSantis and Tim Scott) at the debate enthusiastically embracing a national abortion ban rather than holding the view that this should be the mother's choice after consulting her physician. The ad even shows a video clip from 2016 where Donald Trump tells MSNBC's Chris Matthews that the mother should be punished if there is an abortion. 

The ad concludes with the narrator stating:

"President Biden and Vice President Harris are determined to restore Roe v Wade and they will never allow a national abortion ban to become law. As long as they are in office, decisions about your body will be made by you, not by them."

The Lincoln Project, like Moveon.org published their ad focusing on six of the Republican contenders pledged to still support Trump despite the obvious track record. 

Called "It's His Party," the ad focuses on the nauseating scene where everyone except Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie reaffirmed their commitment to Trump if he was the nominee, even if he was convicted on at least one of the four indictments/91 charges. 

The ad concludes with the statement: 

"Donald Trump: It's his party and it must be defeat

As Fringe Republicans Prepare to Debate, the Biden/Harris Campaign Release Ads Reminding Voters How Far We Have Come Since Inept Trump

 Republican Presidential Candidates except for their cowardly, inept, and four-time indicted leader are readying to debate (if you can call it that) this Wednesday in Milwaukee, the Biden/Harris Campaign has put out three ads designed to appeal to blue-and green-collar workers, Black Americans, and Latino Americans. 

While the Republican Presidential contenders will undoubtedly provide much material for future Biden/Harris and Democratic candidate ads (a New York Times headline called "Democrats, Popcorn in Hand, Root for a Rowdy G.O.P. Debate" is very telling,) it is important that the President and Vice President's team showcase the positive achievements of their Administration for all of the American People. 

In the first ad, "Fought Back," the narrative describes the health and economic crisis, thanks in part to Mr. Popular Vote Loser's mishandling of the Coronavirus, at the beginning of the Biden/Harris Administration and how the American People, whom the President calls "the heroes of this story," "fought back" to:

• Achieve record-low unemployment rates.
• A leading global economy. 
• Support the passage of Bideonomic "historic laws to rebuild the country like the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure (which Trump could not pass,) the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act.
• Bring back manufacturing jobs.
• Become leaders in clean energy.

The ad shows Happy Warrior President Biden proclaiming "America is back" and how the people have "shown that there is no quit in America." 

The ad then pokes at Donald Trump and his ideological soul mates in the former Party of Lincoln, saying:

"There are some who say America is failing. Not Joe Biden. He believes that our best days are ahead because he believes in the American People. 

The ad closes with the President, in his 2023 State of the Union address stating "It's never been a good bet to bet against America."

In the second ad, "First Day," the segment also picks up with the political crisis, caused by the twice impeached ex-President on January 6, 2021, and describes how the Biden/Harris Administration went to work on day one to help Black Americans by securing and supporting programs designed to help people get ahead that have:

• Cut Black Child Poverty in half.
• Additional funds for Black entrepreneurs. 
• Millions of new high-paying jobs.
• Lowering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. 

The last ad, produced in both Spanish and English was tailored to the Latino market. The English version, called "It's Us," showcases how the Biden/Harris Administration has fought for the middle and lower classes by helping:

• Reduce unemployment in the Latino community by half.
• Provide Latino businesses with aid that has made them among the fastest-growing in the country.
• Pass a prescription drug benefit that has reduced the price of insulin for Latino (and all) Seniors to $35.00.

It is important to remember that while Republicans on Wednesday will most likely spend their time discussing (mostly defending) Donald Trump, the failed economic and international policies of the past, and their designs to make America the next Anti-Democratic, Anti-Woman, and Anti-Everything not White Rich Male Gilead, President Biden, and the Democrats will be campaigning on how their policies and ideas have pushed the nation forward, restored American standing around the world, and lifted people in this country up. 

Editorial Cartoons for the Week

 

Brooks and Marcus from August 20, 2023

 

Editorial Cartoons for the Week