Welch: Medications are about to get cheaper for many

"It's a good thing," said Dave Dransfield, about the Inflation Reduction Act recently passed by the federal government that's expected to help him and millions of others afford the medicine they need to live.

Dransfield is a retired pharmacist who lives in Clarendon. He takes insulin, the cost of which will be capped at $35 per month for Medicare recipients by the Inflation Reduction Act.

"I'd been a pharmacist for 40 years before now, and I've watched these prices do that constant, constant rise, and to see people's faces when you say, 'That will be $300, please,' and they just look at you and say, 'But what about insurance?' Well, that's with insurance. That's a problem," he said. "If you're on Social Security or Medicaid or any kind of fixed income this is a great thing. I'm very on board."

He spoke before numerous television, radio and print reporters at Rutland Pharmacy on Monday, alongside newly elected U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who were there to tout the parts of the Inflation Reduction Act aimed at controlling the cost of prescription drugs, something Welch, as a House representative, has been working toward for many years.

This was Welch's first public appearance as a U.S. senator.

"We're here for a serious reason, and it's good news," he said, serving as master of ceremonies for the event. "The cost of prescription drugs, particularly the cost of insulin, is getting out of reach and has been getting out of reach for the citizens of Rutland, Vermont, and the entire country."

He claimed the United States has the highest prescription drug costs in the world, mainly because the federal government couldn't, by law, side with consumers against drug companies when it came to prices.

"When I first went to Congress 16 years ago, the initial legislation that I introduced, along with some others, was to allow the federal government to stand side by side with consumers to protect them against overreaching on the price," said Welch. "And this past year, in the Inflation Reduction Act, we finally were successful in passing legislation that is going to take some pressure off these escalating price increases where our citizens are paying two, three, sometimes four or five, times the cost of the same medication that you can get in Europe or in Canada."

While the act contains a number of ways to cut the cost of medications, the two main points Welch and Becerra noted the most were the insulin co-pay caps and the federal government being allowed to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies about the prices of drugs. They also touted a provision that prevents drug makers from charging more for their products than the cost of inflation.

Becerra also bought up recent law changes allowing Vermonters to get more affordable hearing aids at their local pharmacies.

They were joined by Sarah DeSilvey, a nurse practitioner in St. Albans, who was raised in Rutland.

"In medicine, there's a concept we call 'moral distress.' It's when you know the right thing to do for your patient, but you're unable to do it because of constraints," she said. "I can safely say that every single day in my years of practice, I have faced moral distress knowing the correct therapy for my patient's needs, the correct levels of insulin for their diabetes, but am unable to prescribe it to them because they cannot afford it."

This happens just about every day, she said. Her patients often have to choose between taking the medicine, paying rent or buying food.

She said she's looking forward to the day when the new laws take effect and these conversations become more about what's the best medication for the patient's condition, not about what's the best medication they can afford.

Some of the provisions in the act won't take effect for another few years. The $2,000 cap on annual out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part D, for instance, won't take effect until 2025. The $35 insulin copay cap, however, does start this year.

According to Welch's office, the drug cost highlights of the Inflation Reduction Act include:

— Capping Medicare beneficiary out of pocket expenses in Part D to $2,000 annually. Part D plans will have to include financial protections starting in 2024 with the $2,000 cap coming in 2025.

— Medicare being allowed to negotiate the price of the costliest drugs.

— Starting this year, drug companies will have to pay Medicare a rebate if they raise the prices of drugs faster than that of inflation.

— The cap on insulin copays for Medicare recipients to $35 a month. In 2020, about 7,000 Medicare recipients in Vermont were on insulin.

— In 2024, eligibility for low-income subsidies for Medicare Part D will be expanded.

— Starting in 2023, there will be zero cost sharing on vaccines for Medicare Part D recipients.

keith.whitcomb @rutlandherald.com