:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/XYRDJBOWFRCNTIDTDAEGIL7FRQ.jpg "Biden to ask the US Congress to lower the price of prescription drugs")
The president of United States, Joe Biden, will ask this Thursday the Congress to lower the prices of prescription drugs and will explain his plans to achieve this goal.
The president will request in a speech this Thursday that the Legislature allow “Medicare”, a health coverage program for people over 65, to negotiate the prices of medicines to reduce their cost, the White House said in a statement.
The note highlights that Biden believes that health care is a “right and not a privilege”.
According to the White House, on average Americans pay two to three times more than people in other countries, and one in four US citizens who need prescription drugs have trouble paying for them.
Aside from urging Congress to allow “Medicare” to negotiate prices, Biden will advocate for other reforms such as penalizing drug companies that raise drug prices faster than inflation.
He will also advocate putting a cap on the cost of drugs that older “Medicare” beneficiaries have to pay out of their own pockets each year.
The Executive predicts that these measures will help lower premiums and copayments for millions of Americans: The price of insulin could be lower by hundreds of dollars on average and that of arthritis drugs could fall by more than 2,000 dollars a month.
Regarding the most expensive medicines, their price could decrease tens of thousands of dollars a year, stressed the White House, which gave as an example the drugs to treat cancer, whose cost to the patient could decrease by at least $ 9,000 annually.
According to government estimates, “Medicare” beneficiaries could save $ 200 on average by taking these steps.
The drop in drug prices will be a key point in the $ 3.5 trillion budget package, pushed by Democrats and approved by the Senate on Wednesday, which must now receive the approval of the Lower House.
Progressive senators earlier this week expressed their intention that the package include measures to lower the price of drugs that would save hundreds of billions of dollars, but did not specify a number.
Republicans in Congress and the pharmaceutical industry are categorically opposed to allowing “Medicare” to negotiate lower prices.