A small group gathered outside Melrose Pharmacy in Midtown Phoenix on Friday to publicly thank the Biden-Harris administration for its successful efforts to reduce the cost of several life-saving medications.

They also criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his promise to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a 2022 law that gives the government the ability to negotiate lower prices for 10 of the most expensive – and most commonly prescribed – Medicare drugs.

“I’m here to support Vice President Harris because she has fought to lower prescription drug costs in the past and will continue to do so,” said Doug Hart, a retired union member from Tempe. “Donald Trump, on the other hand, has made it clear that he will make life harder for people with chronic conditions like me. He has spoken out against the Affordable Health Care Act and the IRA.”

The U.S. Department of Human Services and Health Services announced Thursday that the cost of life-saving drugs for cancer, diabetes and blood clots will fall thanks to recent negotiations, saving Medicare recipients between hundreds and thousands of dollars each month.

“These negotiations will not only lower the prices of vital medicines for cancer, diabetes, heart failure and other diseases, but will also save billions of dollars,” said program administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “We made a promise to the American people and today we are pleased to announce that we have fulfilled that promise.”

Harris and Trump on health care costs

Trump has repeatedly promised to abolish the IRA system. This move would not only end negotiations on new drug prices but also eliminate the $2,000 cap on Medicare beneficiaries.

In Arizona, repealing the tax reform would end cost-saving measures for over 400,000 seniors and provide pharmaceutical companies with about $150 million in additional profits, according to an analysis by the U.S. House Budget Committee. Nationally, the Center for American Progress estimates that these additional profits would amount to nearly $8 billion for private pharmaceutical companies – a bill footed by over 20 million seniors.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, has long called for curbing prescription drug costs. During her 2019 presidential campaign, Harris outlined a plan to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to set maximum drug prices comparable to those in other countries. This would reduce costs across the board: A 2022 study by the health nonprofit KFF found that U.S. citizens pay more than double what people in other countries pay for drugs.

“Two years ago, as Vice President, I was proud to cast the deciding vote that gave Medicare bargaining power,” Harris said. “In the two years since, we have used that new power to lower the prices of life-saving drugs.”

Harris supporters point to the future

Manny Hernandez, a U.S. Army veteran who joined the crowd in Phoenix, said he was relieved that Medicare beneficiaries can now benefit from negotiated drug prices if they qualify for Medicare. Hernandez has health insurance through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which has been able to negotiate drug prices for years.

Hernandez said he hopes Harris will go further and empower the government to end price gouging and negotiate drug prices for everyone, not just those with public health insurance. He pointed to his family, where many were born with type 1 diabetes. As they grew older, some of his grandchildren were taken off the government’s health insurance program for minors, and drug costs became a heavy burden on his family.

“I’m a diabetic and I’m lucky that I have VA. Without that, I would be in a really bad place,” Hernandez told the Copper Courier. “So I’m here to help the seniors and hopefully my kids and grandkids in the future, to help lower the prices for them, because we have a lot of diabetics in our family.”