NORTHAMPTON — Lower out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries and reduced premiums for health insurance are among financial benefits area residents are getting from recent federal legislation, according to reports released by U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern on Thursday.
McGovern, who chairs the House Rules Committee, issued the reports related to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signed into law by President Joe Biden. One element of the law allows, for the first time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate prices for high-cost drugs.
In a statement, McGovern calls the Inflation Reduction Act “transformational legislation” that shows Democrats and Biden are putting people over politics to control health care costs.
“For far too long, billionaire corporations and insurance CEOs have forced families to choose between paying for health care — including lifesaving medication and insurance coverage —and putting food on the table,” McGovern said.
The Worcester Democrat is seeking reelection to the state’s 2nd Congressional District in November against Republican Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette of Shrewsbury. The district is made up primarily of Worcester County, but includes Northampton, Amherst, Greenfield and several other towns in Hampshire and Franklin counties. Attempts to reach Sossa-Paquette for comment were unsuccessful Thursday.
The reports show that if the drug-pricing provisions of the new law had been fully in effect in 2020, the total cost of prescriptions filled by the 127,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district could have been $36 million lower than the $239 million they paid.
That is on top of the $11 million in reduced premiums and out-of-pocket costs those same Medicare beneficiaries in the district could have saved.
In addition, the legislation, by extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits that had been set to expire, will help 18,000 people in the district enrolled in subsidized marketplace health insurance coverage through Obamacare, saving them an average of $620 in premiums starting next year.
A family with two adults, two children and a household income of $75,000 could save $2,832 on premiums next year, according to the reports, and for the estimated 10,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district receiving insulin, the new law will cap monthly copayments for insulin products at $35 per month. Had that been in effect in 2020, those enrolled in a standard Medicare drug plan using Novolog, one of the most commonly prescribed rapid-acting insulins, could have saved $1,626 per year.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who represents the 1st Congressional District, supported the act and spoke on the House floor about how it would lower health care costs for millions of low- and middle-income individuals.
“For the first time, Medicare will negotiate drug prices, and there will be a cap on what comes out of seniors’ pockets for their life-saving prescriptions,” Neal said. “No more rationing, or forgoing medicine.”
