Inflation Reduction Act’s Health Care Savings

In a press conference, Senator Mazie Hirono shared the new provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 that will make healthcare more affordable for people across the country.

The IRA will empower Medicare to negotiate drug prices for 10 medicines in 2026, which will gradually increase to 60 by 2029. Medicare’s direct negotiation with Pharma is expected to lower the price of drugs. Another IRA provision caps out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare enrollees at $2,000 per year.

Moreover, Sen. Hirono sponsored a provision in IRA to ensure Medicare recipients will receive all necessary vaccinations at no cost.

“There are about close to 300,000 seniors in Hawaii who rely on Medicare, and lowering prescription drug costs in Medicare and enabling us to negotiate these costs is something that so many of us who were here, when the Affordable Care Act was first enacted, something that we have been pushing for, for over ten years,” said Sen. Hirono.

“It took that long for us to enact this right to negotiate, something that the VA—which is the largest health care system in our country—has been doing for decades. One thing that is going to make a difference to so many seniors right now is that those seniors under Medicare will be able to get their vaccinations free. One out of three older Americans will be affected by shingles and a lot of them don’t get the vaccine because they had to pay for it—no longer.”

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