President Joe Biden joined forces with Vice President Kamala Harris for an event in Maryland on Thursday, where the duo focused primarily on their administration's efforts to lower drug costs and, as one would imagine, Donald Trump's name came up on several occasions.
Perhaps invigorated by the experience of feeling the enthusiasm of Harris supporters first-hand since the turnover, Biden was the mix of snarky and serious he made signature in events of years past, getting a big laugh from the crowd when he ripped into "Donald Dump," as he called him, for pushing to nix their efforts to make prescriptions more affordable.
"This time, we finally beat big pharma," Biden said regarding the announcement today that Medicare landed on agreements with drug manufacturers on lower prices for all 10 of the drugs selected for the initial round of negotiations they were fighting for. "And might I add, with no help from Republicans. Not a single Republican voted for this bill. Not one in the entire Congress. And the reason I say this is not to make a political point . . . but guess what? The guy we're running against . . . what's his name? Donald Dump? They wanna get rid of this, what we passed . . . Kamala made it possible."
President Biden: The other guy, what’s his name? Donald Dump? He wants to get rid of our law lowering prescription drug costs pic.twitter.com/9fuS3suFnw
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 15, 2024
In a statement from The White House, Harris details the significance of what Biden and Harris have accomplished together with the Inflation Reduction Act and the historic Medicare negotiation program, writing, "Every American should be able to access the health care they need no matter their income or wealth . . . Today’s announcement will be lifechanging for so many of our loved ones across the nation, and we are not stopping here."
With Harris casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate, working with Biden over a two year span of time to sign the landmark bill into law, they capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month, and lowered premiums for seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare.
"Additional prescription drugs will be selected each year as part of our Medicare drug price negotiation program," the statement furthers. "This includes up to 15 additional drugs covered under Medicare Part D for negotiation in 2025, up to an additional 15 Part B and Part D drugs in 2026, and up to 20 drugs every year after that."
"Kamala and I and all of us in this room are going to continue standing up to Big Pharma," Biden told the crowd in Maryland. "I've fought too damn hard to yield now."
