Federal law is providing critical drug cost savings for many Marylanders
and making health insurance more affordable
A day after Maryland’s primary elections, the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative (MCHI) today sent letters to candidates running for Congress urging them to “commit to support the life-saving health care access and prescription drug affordability provisions of President Joe Biden’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.” The letter asks the candidates to respond online by July 15, 2024, after which MCHI will do all it can to let Marylanders know how the candidates stand on this critical issue.
The IRA for the first time authorizes Medicare to negotiate with the big drug corporations to keep down the cost of high-cost prescriptions, caps what people on Medicare have to pay for insulin to no more than $35 per month, and as of January 1, 2025, puts a limit of $2000 per year on what people on Medicare will have to pay in out of pocket costs for prescription drugs.
“These changes together will save tens of millions of Americans including many in Maryland from the physical and financial pain of expensive drugs, and will save the United States Treasury hundreds of billions of dollars a year,” the letter reads. “Further, the IRA built on the progress of the Affordable Care Act by keeping in place until 2025 additional federal health care subsidies which have allowed millions more Americans, including tens of thousands here in Maryland, to be able to afford health care coverage. We must keep these critical new benefits in place.”
MCHI is calling for IRA support among Congressional candidates because the law was passed by a narrow margin and is vulnerable to repeal in the next Congress.
The letter notes Maryland has made progress in reducing health care costs. “But, all of our progress in Maryland would be undermined and set back if the IRA is repealed or weakened,” the letter reads. “Therefore, we will work to make sure that the voters of Maryland know which candidates for the United States Senate and House of Representatives are committed to protecting our hard-won health care gains.” Read the full letter here.
“Marylanders need to know where candidates for the US Senate and House of Representative stand on protecting the health care coverage and prescription drug affordability benefits of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act,” said Vincent DeMarco, President of the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative. “We urge the primary winners to let us know soon how they stand and we will do all we can to make sure Maryland voters know which candidates support the IRA’s life saving health care coverage and prescription drug affordability provisions.
Last modified: May 16, 2024
