WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden teamed up with Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday to promote his administration’s efforts to lower the cost of inhalers and other healthcare needs, as the White House continues its effort to highlight Biden’s legislative achievements to voters ahead of the November elections.
“Bernie, you and I have been fighting this for 25 years,” Biden said to Sanders during an event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. “Finally, finally we beat Big Pharma. Finally.”
Both men touted the lower health care costs that come through the Democrats’ sweeping climate, health care and tax package that Biden signed into law in 2022. It caps various health care costs for those on Medicare, including $35 a month for insulin and $2,000 a year for prescription drugs.
No Republican lawmakers voted for the law. His aides and Democratic officials say Biden’s achievements such as lowering health care costs are popular with the public, yet the incumbent president hasn’t yet gotten the credit from voters.
And both Biden and Sanders promoted their recent efforts to pressure most major inhaler manufacturers to cap the costs of the devices to no more than $35 a month. Otherwise, the purchase price of inhalers ranges somewhere between $200 to $600 without insurance, according to the White House. Manufacturers have said the price changes will take effect later this year or at the beginning of next year.
“I want to thank President Biden for what he has done on this issue up to now, and I look forward to working with the president as we go forward,” Sanders said. “We are sick and tired of paying by part the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.”
Sanders, a Vermont independent, and Biden were rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. After Sanders ended his bid, his aides worked with Biden campaign officials to craft a party policy platform that would reflect Sanders’ influence.
Sanders and Biden, who were rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, have since collaborated on policy platforms that reflect Sanders’ influence within the party.
As Biden aims to crack down on corporate greed and relieve financial burdens when it comes to prescription medication, a key focus for his re-election campaign as he called out his republican rival former president Donald Trump.
“Now he and his republican congress want to cut social security, raise the age and cut Medicare while they cut taxes for the very wealthy again,” said Biden.
The Biden Administration also said not enough is being done to protect workers and civilians in Gaza amid a global outcry over the deadly IDF strike that killed seven humanitarian workers including a dual U.S. citizen.
“The president made clear that he mourns every innocent life in this conflict-- Palestinian and Israeli,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
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Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Amanda Seitz contributed to this report.