Article Summary –
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which McCormick derogatorily called the “Inflation Creation Act,” allows the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare Part D and caps out-of-pocket costs but has faced opposition from pharmaceutical lobbyists concerned about reduced profits impacting future drug development. Despite McCormick’s objections and his acceptance of campaign donations from pharmaceutical lobbyists, a poll reveals that 83% of Americans support Medicare negotiating drug prices, and these negotiations are projected to save consumers $1.5 billion in 2026.
Asked during an Aug. 22 appearance on “The Dawn Stensland Show” on WPHT radio in Philadelphia about the Biden administration’s efforts to lower drug prices, Pennsylvania Republican Senate nominee Dave McCormick said, “under Joe Biden, Part D prices for prescription drugs are up 59%, so whatever they said they’re doing, it’s not working.”
During the interview, first flagged by the progressive research group American Bridge 21st Century, McCormick stated: “The best way to ensure that we get drug prices down and health care costs down is to make sure we have adequate competition. And having the government negotiate pharmaceutical prices, call me a skeptic, except maybe in very select cases, where we really do have significant price increases.”
McCormick did not provide evidence for his claim that drug prices for Medicare Part D insurance coverage have risen 59%, and his campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which McCormick called “the Inflation Creation Act,” authorizes the federal government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to lower prices for some medications used by Medicare Part D recipients. It includes a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket prescription drug spending cap starting in 2025. Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey voted for the law, which passed in the Senate with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote after every Republican voted no.
McCormick supports the law’s $35-a-month cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin for Medicare Part D subscribers but said: “Generally speaking, I’m very skeptical of big government and particularly the Biden administration or the Harris administration negotiating new drug prices. I’m much more comfortable with ensuring that we have the right competition to drive down drug prices for all consumers, and that’s just not happened under Biden.”
McCormick ignores that the cap on out-of-pocket costs begins next year. The federal government just announced that the first 10 lower drug price agreements will go into effect in 2026. These deals will save consumers an estimated $1.5 billion in that year and will save the government about $6 billion.
A June 2023 West Health-Gallup poll found 83% of Americans support authorizing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Casey, who chairs the Senate Special Committee on Aging, cheered the Biden-Harris administration’s announcement of lower costs negotiated by Medicare in an Aug. 15 press release: “For far too long, prescription drug costs have hung like a bag of rocks tied around the necks of millions of Americans, weighing them down every single day. I fought to give Medicare the power to negotiate prices with drug companies to help ease the burden that so many older Americans are carrying. Today’s announcement is a huge relief for the people who rely on these often life-saving medications, and shows just how significant the savings will be as Medicare plans to engage in price negotiations on more and more drugs in the coming years.”
The lower prices are strongly opposed by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry, which claims reduced profits will force its members to spend less on developing future treatments. A 2019 estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that authorizing Medicare to negotiate would result in just eight fewer drugs being introduced to the U.S. market over the first 10 years, and only 30 fewer over the subsequent decade.
McCormick has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from registered lobbyists for PhRMA in his 2022 and 2024 Senate campaigns.
In October 2023, McCormick told right-wing radio host John Fredericks he wanted to repeal much of the Inflation Reduction Act: “What happened under Biden, with these huge, enormous pieces of legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, which, there’s never been a more misnamed piece of legislation in history, which is pork belly corporate welfare. We’ve got to roll that back.”
A page on McCormick’s campaign website called “Lowering Costs for Pennsylvanians” has said only “Coming soon!” for months, American Bridge pointed out.
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