U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is touting lower prescription drug prices for older Americans.
The New York Democrat spoke at Crestwood Pharmacy in Albany Tuesday, not long after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it reached agreements with drug manufacturers to lower prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients.
Lower prices for 10 medications commonly used by seniors will go into effect in 2026.
“The prices are as much as 79% lower. This is really a bargain, and the money goes, as I said, into the pocket of the taxpayers,” Schumer said.
Schumer says the new prices are the result of the Inflation Reduction Act giving Medicare the ability to negotiate directly with drug companies.
Jagat Patel owns Crestwood Pharmacy. He says, in a neighborhood with many older residents, he hears their concerns often.
“First question is, is there another alternative that's cheaper? Unfortunately, for a lot of these newer drugs, like Eliquis, for example, there really is no cheaper alternative that does exactly what Eliquis does,” Patel said.
Patel says he hears that seniors are finding they might have to choose between paying bills or eating.
Also included in the IRA is a $2,000 yearly out-of-pocket price cap for seniors’ medications. Schumer says you need to sign up by January in order to be eligible when it goes into effect in 2025.
Schumer says the price cuts will save taxpayers $6 billion a year.
And with the November election drawing closer, Schumer warned Republicans would undo years of progress.
“You hear it all the time. I've heard it from my own relatives, of people who cut the pills in half, or take half a dose a day because they don't want to go to the drug store every month, given the high prices that exist now,” Schumer said.
Several local seniors spoke about their experiences. Each said they take medications whose prices will be reduced under the new measure.
Steve Kolnick, an Albany resident, says it’s close to home as a retired 78-year-old living off Social Security. He says he takes 11 medications, three of which were affected by the measure.
“I just got through paying my bill for pharmaceuticals for the last month, and I have it right here. I paid $591.98, and most of it was for one of the drugs which is on that list, which is over $400 and that, every three or four months paying this amount of money…,” Kolnick said.
Bob Lohs, a retired state employee, says he takes a dozen drugs, of which one is on the list. He says the only reason he’s able to stay afloat financially is because of the health benefits he got from his job.
“I have friends and family who do not have that, and they can't afford some of their drugs and have had to make those difficult decisions. As such, I am all for this new policy, and it makes it affordable for people, and I really do believe that it should be made available to the rest of the people in this nation,” Lohs said.
State Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, a Democrat who represents the city of Albany, says she has personal experience trying to balance the costs of medicines while her son was fighting cancer.
“I can't help but think of my son and what we had to navigate with daily trips to the pharmacies and the battles that we had at the time with insurance. So it's not just seniors, Senator, and I know you know that; it is everyone,” Fahy said.
President Joe Biden has championed the prescription drug cost reduction as a key accomplishment of his term.
