Doctors say the ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ has been a success story in Pennsylvania

Here’s how a single policy from the Biden-Harris administration saved hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians money every month.

Dr. Max Cooper has seen firsthand the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The emergency physician in Southeastern Pennsylvania had a patient collapse outside his emergency department due to a cardiac arrhythmia just over two years ago. After talking with the patient, Cooper found out he was a diabetic and was not taking his necessary medication because he couldn’t afford it. 

“Nobody should be forced to choose between which medications they can take or what critical bills like rent to pay,” Cooper said during a meeting to discuss the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on its two-year anniversary. “The Inflation Reduction Act is helping more and more Pennsylvanians not need to make this impossible choice.”

The Inflation Reduction Act was the largest-ever investment in fighting climate change, lowered health care and prescription drug costs, and raised taxes on corporations.

“Without a doubt, I can say that when people have access to health care and medications that are prescribed by their doctors, they have better outcomes,” Cooper said. “They have a higher quality of life and they thrive. The two most important laws in recent years that have helped make this possible are the Affordable Care Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. These laws are saving lives.”

The Inflation Reduction Act also included subsidies that helped make insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”) more affordable for working- and middle-class families.

Those subsidies were introduced as part of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan of 2021, and were set to expire at the end of 2022—but the Inflation Reduction Act extended them through the end of 2025.

The law also reformed Medicare to lower drug costs for many of the roughly 2.3 million Pennsylvania seniors with Medicare Part D coverage, which covers prescription drugs.

For example, beginning last year, all vaccines covered under Medicare Part D became free, and a $35 monthly cap was placed on insulin payments for Medicare recipients.

More than 300,000 Pennsylvanians are saving an average of $520 on monthly health insurance premiums, Cooper said. More than 80,000 Pennsylvanians on Medicare who use insulin are now saving an average of $543 a month.

Additionally, the law authorized Medicare to negotiate prices for expensive drugs with pharmaceutical companies for the first time.

Dr. Jim Becker, a family medicine physician in Philadelphia, said his patients are also reaping the benefits of the law. 

“I cared for a patient who was hospitalized and nearly died from a diabetic coma,” Becker said. “As hard as she has worked on eating better, and she’s worked really hard, it is the insulin she is now taking that is doing the most at controlling her blood sugar levels. After a few months of gradually increasing her insulin doses, we finally got her diabetes under control. Affordable insulin saved her life. Affordable insulin saves lives. And the Inflation Reduction Act made that possible.”

Becker said he, along with countless other doctors in the commonwealth, hope the government continues to build on the positive benefits of the law.

“The Inflation Reduction Act is a step forward in making health care more affordable for Pennsylvanians and more accessible – and we should build on this progress, not tear it down.”