major health care focus


Biden is preparing a package of health care measures that he would aim to pass in a second term, with announcements starting this week centered on cutting prescription drug prices.Biden and aides see the potential to transform health care coverage and cost for millions of Americans and, along the way, give the president a full-throated, forward-looking argument on an issue that has consistently delivered for Democrats in recent election cycles.

They believe former President Donald rump made that much easier by suddenly renewing his calls to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act – giving them a strong contrast point with the GOP front-runner.Expected to be part of the president’s proposed agenda: expanding the provisions cutting prices for insulin and other drugs, which were enacted for Medicare enrollees last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, 

and further strengthening the Affordable Care Act by making permanent the enhanced federal premium subsidies that have helped about 10 million people afford coverage on the Obamacare exchanges.

The beefed-up assistance is set to expire after 2025.

Biden will also look to tout another provision from the Inflation Reduction Act that reduces out-of-pocket costs for drugs whose prices have risen faster than inflation.

Together, Biden campaign aides are confident that these measures will continue to boost the president’s standing among voters over 65 years old, who trended back toward Democrats in 2020 and the 2022 midterms, and in a broader way, push back on inflation attacks by showing he is directly addressing costs.