Letters were mailed after Maryland’s primary election results.
FREDERICK, MD. (LG) Efforts are being made by the Maryland Health Care Initiative to have all of the candidates for Congress who won in Tuesday’s primary to let Maryland voters know who stands in support of the Inflation Reduction Act’s Health Care Provisions.
“Marylanders and Americans have benefitted greatly from President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’ Inflation Reduction Act, which has made high cost drugs more affordable for people on Medicare, and it’s built on the Affordable Care Act to make health insurance more affordable for thousands of Marylanders. We we want that law to stay in place and to be strengthen,” said Vinnie DeMarco, President of Maryland Health Care for All Coalition.
The IRA authorizes Medicare to negotiate with big drug corporations to keep down the cost of high cost prescriptions, caps what people on Medicare have to pay for insulin to no more than $35 per month, and as of January 1, 2024, puts a limit of $2000 per year on what people on Medicare will have to pay in out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs. DeMarco stated in a press release.
“We want all the candidates who won their primary for U.S. Senate and U.S. House to make a commitment to protect and build on the Inflation Reduction Act,” continued DeMarco.
President Biden’s prescription drug bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, was signed into law on August 16, 2022. This new law provides meaningful financial relief for millions of people with Medicare by expanding benefits, lowering drug costs, and strengthening Medicare for the future. “Thousands and thousand of Marylanders and millions of Americans rely on the Inflation and Reduction Act, and we need these candidates to commit to it and support it,” DeMarco added.
The Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative sent letters out to those candidates who won in Tuesday’s primary election, asking them to respond online by July 15, 2024. “We have given them to July 15th. After July 15th we will let the public know who supports it and who doesn’t. It would be a tragedy if all of these healthcare coverages were lost. That’s why this is so important,” DeMarco added.
By Loretta Gaines