Article Summary –
Pam Bloink, a retired teacher from Rockford, Michigan, faced significant financial strain due to high copays for her diabetes medication after going on Medicare, but the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has significantly reduced her costs, capping insulin prices at $35 a month as of January 2023 and setting a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs starting in 2025. The Act, passed by a Democratic-led Congress and signed by President Biden, aims to alleviate the financial burden on Medicare Part D beneficiaries, though it faces opposition from Republican figures like former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who have vowed to repeal it. Bloink emphasizes the importance of maintaining these cost reductions, highlighting the severe financial hardship she would face if the law were rolled back, expressing concerns about returning to higher costs and the broader implications for people in similar or worse situations.
When medical issues forced longtime teacher Pam Bloink to retire, her health insurance copays quickly drained her savings. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the Rockford, Michigan, resident now sees significantly reduced costs.
Diagnosed with diabetes in 2007, Bloink lost access to free long-acting insulin when she went on Medicare. “I was put on insulin. While teaching, I got one for free and the other for $10 a month. Everything changed when I had to retire and became disabled. It skyrocketed,” she told the Michigan Independent. “I lost my free insulin because of Medicare, and it was $80 a month.”
The law, passed by the Democratic-led Congress without Republican support and signed by President Joe Biden in 2022, introduces a $2,000-a-year cap on out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part D in 2025 and a $35-a-month cap on insulin starting January 2023. Michigan Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, supported the bill. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
“The $35 a month is a significant difference,” Bloink said, reducing her annual insulin cost from $1,068 to $528.
She mentioned that her other prescription medications are even more expensive, but the 2025 cap will help.
“My out-of-pocket costs this year are around $8,000, up from $7,500 last year. The $2,000 cap next year will be a massive relief,” she explained. “It’s going to improve even more.”
Former President Donald Trump opposed the Inflation Reduction Act and plans to roll it back if re-elected. Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for Stabenow’s Senate seat, has decried the law and vowed to “stop Bidenomics.”
“There are people worse off than I am, but I never thought, with a master’s degree and savings, that I’d be living paycheck to paycheck,” Bloink said. “It would be catastrophic to go back to paying $80 a month for insulin and $8,000 out of pocket annually, just so the rich get another tax break. I wouldn’t be able to make ends meet.”
“We cannot return to how terrible things were,” she said.
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