VIDEO: Ahead of Democratic National Convention, Delegates Hernandez, Feggans Contrast Health Care Accomplishments of Biden-Harris Administration with Trump and Project 2025’s Plans to Rip Care Away from Virginians

Friday’s event coincided with the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which narrowly passed the U.S. Senate when Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. Thanks to the landmark law, the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare is capped at $35 dollars, seniors are protected from drug company price hikes, and seniors’ prescription drug costs will be capped at $2,000 dollars per year starting next year. The Inflation Reduction Act also ensured that for the first time in history, Medicare is negotiating prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies to lower costs for seniors. The Biden-Harris administration last week announced the new, lower prices for 10 of the highest-cost, most popular drugs taken by people on Medicare. These new prices are known as “maximum fair prices,” and are the highest prices drug companies are allowed to charge for these life-saving medications.

Meanwhile, Project 2025 calls for the repeal of the health care provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The two different visions that you’re hearing about health care could not be more different,” said Delegate Hernandez. “On one hand, you’ve got President Biden and Vice President Harris, who, two years ago, signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act …. One of the really powerful things that it did was giving Medicare, for the first time in history, the ability to negotiate prescription drug prices. That’s something that has been in the works for a long, long time. They actually got it done.”

“The bottom line is that the former president’s plan is to really just empower Big Pharma and hurt families,” said Delegate Feggans. “Thankfully, though, you know what we’ve seen over the past two and a half years, President Biden and Vice President Harris’ administration has been time and time again stepping forward to take care of everyday citizens. Vice President Harris was the one who actually cast the tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, and it shows you where her priorities are.”

“Project 2025, and yes, I read the veterans portion specifically, Project 2025 wants to privatize the VA,” said Susan Hippen, a veteran from Virginia Beach. “That means they want to provide us health care at their profit. No, no, no, no, no. Health care is a right. I have paid into it, you have paid into it … You take Medicare out of your taxes. We are all paying for this, and no one should grow rich because my grandmother had colon cancer. Or my sister has ovarian cancer, they shouldn’t be getting rich off of this. That’s just morally wrong.”

Laurice Yarn, a retired high school counselor from Virginia Beach, shared her story of managing ulcerative colitis, which requires high-cost prescription drugs.

“Without Medicare, I probably would not take my prescription drugs as prescribed. I would probably cut back a little here and there, trying to save money. However, because with Medicare and the cap of $3,000 right now, I can afford my meds, and I’m looking forward to it becoming the $2,000 … I am thankful that the Inflation Reduction Act is helping me save money, and I will save far more money in the future. We need to protect this law against any attempts to take it away from us. Thank you, President Biden, Vice President Harris, Delegate Hernandez, Delegate Feggans, for championing our health care.”

At the event, Protect Our Care Virginia State Director Katie Baker read a statement from Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach on the Biden-Harris administration’s announcement on the savings from the first round of Medicare price negotiation.

“For too long, we’ve lived in a broken system that has allowed drug companies to charge whatever they want while hardworking Americans struggle to afford the medications they need to survive,” said Dach. “This announcement is 40 years in the making. The Biden-Harris administration and Democrats in Congress stood up to the greed of big drug companies and won, and now prices will come down for millions of seniors. The Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program will give seniors long overdue relief while saving taxpayers billions of dollars: it’s a win-win for the American people. Meanwhile, after spending $100 million to try to stop the Inflation Reduction Act, drug companies are still working with their Republican allies to repeal the law and ban Medicare from negotiating lower prices. As the Biden-Harris administration delivers savings to seniors, the contrast with Republicans could not be more clear.”

You can watch the full event here, and learn more about the MAGA Republican attacks on affordable health care here.

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Protect Our Care is dedicated to making high-quality, affordable and equitable health care a right, and not a privilege, for everyone in America. We educate the public, influence policy, support health care champions and hold politicians accountable. We fight to expand access to affordable, high-quality health insurance, lower the cost of health care for individuals and families, and reduce inequities in health care based on gender, income, race, ethnicity, geography, or sexual preference.