President Joe Biden on Monday outlined the ways his Build Back Better bill would lower prescription drug costs — in particular, insulin — for millions across the country, saying it is beyond time to offer Americans the “medicines they need, and the dignity they deserve to be able to afford them.”

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden on Monday outlined the ways his Build Back Better bill would lower prescription drug costs — in particular, insulin — for millions across the country

  • Biden's plan would, in part, cap the price of insulin at $35 per month; the drug typically costs ten times more in the United States than in any other developed country

  • The proposal would also allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs directly with pharmaceutical companies

  • While Biden said lowering prescription drug costs is “not a partisan issue,” the provision is tied in with a bigger spending package that faces a steep uphill battle in the Senate

The president was introduced by Iesha Meza, a young woman who told of her first-hand experience with type 1 diabetes, recounting how there were times she had to choose between paying her rent or getting her life-saving drug. 

“I want to see a future where young people like me don't have our lives revolve around our prescription drugs,” Meza said. “And we don't have to make career and life choices around insurance benefits.”

Biden praised her and all Americans living with chronic diseases during his own remarks, saying there are far too many people for whom unaffordable medications make “the difference between hope and fear, life and death, dignity and dependence.”

“Diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer and so many other diseases — they don't care if you're a Democrat or Republican,” Biden said in an address from the East Room of the White House, adding that his proposal is about “whether or not your loved ones can afford a prescription drug they need. 

Biden’s Build Back Better plan — a nearly $2 trillion social spending bill that passed the House in November — would make a number of changes to the prescription drug market in the U.S., in part by imposing a $35 monthly cap on the cost of insulin. 

Insulin typically costs ten times more in the United States than in any other developed country, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

The price of analog insulin — used to help the body convert glucose into energy — has skyrocketed “inexplicably” over the past two decades, the clinic says, shooting up from an average price of $21 in 1999 to $332 in 2019. 

The formula of the most commonly used versions of the drug have not been changed in over 20 years. 

“Our miraculous therapies have, in some cases, turned diseases that were once considered death sentences into treatable conditions,” the president said Monday. “And we can make a distinction between developing those breakthroughs and jacking up prices on a range of medicines which have been on the market for years without making [...] a substantive change in the medication itself.”

Companies that increase prescription drug prices faster than the pace of inflation would face a steep excise tax under Biden’s proposal.

Biden’s bill would also allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs directly with pharmaceutical companies with the hope of reducing costs for millions of Americans. Currently, Medicare can negotiate lower prices on nearly every medical item except for prescription drugs. 

Another change to the Medicare system would impact seniors by capping the amount they have to pay on prescription drugs at $2,000 per year.

“We're committed to using every tool I have to lower prescription drug costs for Americans to create a system where drug companies are getting a fair return on their investment,” Biden said. 

While Biden on Monday said lowering prescription drug costs is “not a partisan issue,” the provision is tied in with a bigger spending package that faces a steep uphill battle in the Senate. 

Democrats have promised a vote on the package before Christmas, and Biden on Monday said he wants to get the bill signed “no matter how long it takes.” 

But with a 50-50 split in the Senate, and no Republicans currently backing the act, Democrats have their work cut out for them to meet their deadline.