Los Angeles (USA), Mar 15 (EFE) of the inflation rate in the last two years.
The measure will not benefit all Americans. Only those over the age of 65 who are part of the “Medicare” public health system, that is, about 60 million people, representing 18% of the country’s population, will be able to take advantage of it.
“Let’s finish the job, let’s make everyone have access to lower cost prescription drugs,” said the president during a speech at the University of Nevada, located in the city of Las Vegas.
Based on the Inflation Reduction Law, approved by Congress last year, these companies must lower the costs of a group of 27 drugs -among which are anticoagulants or antibacterial drugs- as of April 1.
The measure, which is part of the “Medicare” plan, would lower the out-of-pocket expenses of people over 65 years of age by a maximum of up to $390, the US Department of Health reported on Wednesday.
A report from this department published in September revealed that since 2021 the prices of 1,200 prescription-only drugs have risen above inflation.
“We spend more on prescription drugs than any advanced country. Think of any drug and you could get it all over Europe much cheaper. It’s not fair,” said the chief executive.
During the event in Las Vegas, Biden also spoke of his measures to lower the price of insulin through “Medicare”, which will allow patients over the age of 65 to pay a maximum of $35 per month for this drug.
In the United States, about 30 million people have diabetes, of whom 7 million need insulin daily, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Likewise, the White House announced this Wednesday that, according to a report on the financing of “Medicare” within the budget for 2024, the funds for this health plan would be covered until 2032 and not until 2028 as expected.
An estimate that was partially based on the 1.2% increase in taxes for US taxpayers with incomes of more than $400,000 per year.
In this sense, the additional income that would be obtained from this fiscal year to 2033 would amount to 1,451 trillion dollars, with which “Medicare” would be “sufficiently financed”, according to the forecasts reflected in Biden’s budget.
“We are going to build an economy for the middle and working classes, not just for the richest,” Biden said from Las Vegas.
The drop in drug prices is one of the issues that most worries Americans and the president has used it on occasions to attack the Republican opposition, aware that it will be a weighty issue ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
The president has yet to officially announce his campaign for re-election in these elections but has repeatedly said that he intends to run for office again.
