By PAUL RUFFINS
On Thursday, August 15th, President Biden and Vice President Harris held a rally at Prince George’s Community College in Largo to announce their success in lowering the prices of prescription drugs for older adults on Medicare.
Biden argued that the price reductions will save U.S. taxpayers nearly $160 billion over the next 10 years by reducing what the government will have to pay for medications for the 67 million people served by Medicare.
It was the president and vice president’s first appearance together since Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris on July 21.
The event did not feature a single “Harris for President” sign, and the invitations sent out from the White House said that no outside signs were allowed. Every one of the hundreds of official posters behind the stage read, “Lowering prescription drug costs.”
One attendee, Terri Jones, told Streetcar Suburbs, “I came to see my president, Joe Biden, because of the insulin; I was paying 600 a month, and now I’m paying 35 dollars.”
Biden argued that he and Harris had successfully taken on “Big Pharma.”
“I’ve been waiting for this a long time,” he declared. “The first time I sponsored a bill to let Medicare negotiate the price of drugs was in 1973 as a freshman senator working with a guy named Frank Church.” Church was a Democratic senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981.
Biden said that if someone in the audience had a prescription medication made by an American company, “I can put you on Air Force One and fly you to Toronto or to Paris, and you could get that same drug for 40-60% less than you will pay for it here.”
He explained that the Veteran’s Administration gets prescription drugs for 50% less than Medicare because the VA is allowed to negotiate prices, which Medicare historically has not been able to do. And, that a month’s supply of insulin that sells for $600 costs about $10 to manufacture and another $3-4 to package and ship.
“Now,” he said, “it’s $35, and the drug companies will still make three times what it costs to manufacture it.”
Biden focused on the price of insulin, which has already fallen due to efforts by himself and former president Trump. On the same day as the rally, the White House released newly renegotiated prices for 10 commonly prescribed medications covered by Medicare Part D. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
Starting January 2026, the maximum price of Imbruvica, used to treat blood cancers, will fall by 38%, and the price for common diabetes medications will fall more than 76%, according to Medicare fact sheets.
Biden said that 10 more drugs will be added each year until the price of every drug under Medicare Part D has been negotiated.
Before introducing Biden, Harris described her own role in the fight. “For years, Big Pharma has often inflated the prices of life-saving medications, charging many times what it would cost to make, in order to inflate their profits,” Harris said. “As Attorney General of California, I took on deceptive marketing and illegally inflated drug costs, and we won billions of dollars.”
Despite the prescription drug messaging, many people in the large and enthusiastic crowd, which appeared to be largely Black and majority female, treated it as a Harris campaign rally.
Dianne Fink, the executive director of Emerge Maryland, which trains Democratic women to run for office, said, “There has just been such an incredible surge in energy since Kamala became the candidate. The race just feels completely different than a few weeks ago.”
Sharonda Huffman, a recent graduate of the program and a delegate to the upcoming Democratic National Convention, said, “The Republicans have been criticizing Vice President Harris for not giving enough specifics, so this is a chance to give a preview of what her platform is going to be going into the convention next week.”
The event also showcased the influence of Maryland’s Black Democrats, with comments from Governor Wes Moore and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who is running for Senate against former governor Larry Hogan, a Republican.
However, the rally wasn’t a complete love fest.
The immigrant’s rights group CASA led the largest group of demonstrators, who opposed efforts to tighten the border. A Green Party supporter shouted that Jill Stein was the only candidate pushing to extend healthcare to everyone. A small contingent of anti-abortion activists condemned the administration’s policies on abortion, and a few people repeatedly interrupted Biden’s speech by shouting, “What about Gaza? What about Gaza?” But the crowd shouted them down with cries of, “Thank You Joe,” a refrain heard throughout the afternoon.
