Harris campaign in Maine touts drug savings plan on Inflation Reduction Act anniversary • Maine Morning Star

Nathan, the 11-year-old son of Freeport resident Kate Brogan, told her to “give them hell” as she left the building Friday morning to attend a discussion in which she said a Kamala Harris presidency would ensure his future access to necessary health care.

Nathan is learning about health policy because he has to, Brogan explained. Nathan has had Type 1 diabetes since he was 3 years old and needs daily insulin shots to stay alive.

While deductibles and copayments leave her family with significant diabetes-related costs, Brogan said Maine law provides some cost consistency by Capping the price of insulin to $35 a month for everyone, a change lawmakers passed in 2020. But Brogan fears that could change depending on who is elected president next.

Brogan met with health care providers and former elected officials in downtown Portland on Friday to discuss how the election could determine the future of drug affordability. The conversation came on the second anniversary of President Joe Biden's administration signing the Bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered prescription drug prices and addressed other issues such as reducing the federal budget. Deficit and invest in clean energy.

The groundbreaking federal law founded a cap of $35 per month for seniors across the country. On Friday morning, Harris, who has secured the delegate votes needed to be nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, defeated first detailed economic policy.

Speakers in Portland took the opportunity to compare Harris' plans to expand drug price controls with those of former President Donald Trumpthe Republican presidential candidate, who has signaled that he would try to roll back parts of the law.

Project 2025, the transition plan from the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, was also a common thread in the discussion. Speakers pointed to the proposal to abolish the IRA system. The plan was drafted with input from former Trump administration officials, although Trump has denied involvement and has not committed to implementing it if elected.

Former Democratic state representative for Gorham and Scarborough Linda Sanborn said that as a former family doctor, she had witnessed first-hand how people sacrificed their own health because the cost of treatment was too high.

“No one should have to worry about not being able to afford their medication,” Sanborn said, adding that in the November election, Maine families will have to choose between lower health care costs under a Harris presidency and higher costs under a Trump presidency.

Austin Vaughan, a fourth-year osteopathic student at the New England College of Medicine in Biddeford, also shared personal experience working in communities across the state, including cities like Lewiston and more rural areas like Rumford.

“I have learned firsthand through conversations with patients and providers how important affordable health care is to Maine residents, especially those in more rural, underserved areas,” Vaughan said.

To justify his support for Harris as a presidential candidate, Vaughan pointed to the vice president's record as former Attorney General of the State of California, where she held major pharmaceutical companies accountable for excessive prescription drug prices.

Julie Keller Pease, a doctor from Topsam, also highlighted Harris' recent record when she was the deciding vote in the Senate for the passage of the the Inflation Reduction Act.

The discussion on drug affordability in Portland was one of more than 20 discussions the Harris campaign hosted across the country and comes a day after Biden and Harris' first joint event since Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic candidate for the next presidency.

Biden and Harris talk about savings on medicines during their appearance in Maryland, but mostly praise each other

This event, took place on Thursday in MarylandIt was official that the White House announced that the government had negotiated lower prices for prescription drugs with pharmaceutical companies, which will take effect in 2026 and save patients about $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs, according to the White House.

Nevertheless, it had the character of a campaign rally: 2,300 spectators cheered, the stage was full of Democrats from Maryland, and Biden said at one point that Harris would “make a damn good president.”

The President and Vice President also spoke about the future of the IRA, the lower costs for prescription drugs for 373,000 Seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries in Maine by limiting drug costs, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, and capping the price of insulin at $35 per month.

Biden said his administration would work to extend the $35-a-month cap on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries to everyone. But if that is not completed before he leaves office next year, he said, “Kamala, as president, will make sure that … everyone is eligible for that $35 a month.”

Harris made this intention official in her first detailed economic policy, which she released on Friday morning.

Harris' proposal would extend the cap to everyone while setting the maximum out-of-pocket costs for other drugs at $2,000. The plan would also increase the speed at which Medicare can negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, aim to cancel the medical debt of millions of Americans and help them avoid it in the future.because no one should go bankrupt just because they had the misfortune of becoming ill or injured,” the proposal states.