Rising prescription drug prices were only mentioned once during last night’s presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The issue was brought up by Harris when she was asked by moderators for details about her healthcare plan.
“Since I’ve been vice president, we have capped the cost of prescription medications for seniors at $2,000 a year,” Harris said referencing one of her proposals to lower drug prices. “And when I am president we will do that for all people.”
She also touted recent Medicare drug prices negotiations that were made under the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Although very little time was devoted to discuss drug prices at the debate, costs continue to soar for consumers.
Drug prices rose about 15% or an average of $590 per drug from 2022 to 2023, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Price hikes were even steeper when looking only at newly launched drugs. Pharmaceutical companies set prices for new drugs in the U.S. 35% higher in 2023 than they did the prior year, according to an analysis by Reuters.
Lowering prescription drug prices was a major goal during both the Biden-Harris administration and the Trump administration.
During his presidency, Biden has allowed Medicare to negotiate some drug prices for its beneficiaries and cap out-of-pocket costs of insulin and prescription drugs for people on Medicare.
In August, Harris said if elected she would work to expand these programs including capping yearly out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000 for all Americans.
During his presidency Trump proposed tying Medicare drug spending to the prices of drugs in other countries. He also issued a rule that allows states to import drugs from other countries.