President Biden continues to center his pre-midterm speeches around the issue of prescription drug costs, with two recent West Coast talks highlighting how Democrats will continue to work to lower costs for seniors. 

At a community center in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, three weeks ahead of the midterms, the President described an executive order he’d signed just the day before. The executive order directed the Department of Health and Human Services to research more ways to lower drug costs. Biden said in the speech Saturday he ordered the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra “to put a plan on my desk for finding additional ways to lower prescription drug costs for seniors,” within the next 90 days. 

In the executive order, the president said, “Nearly 3 in 10 American adults who take prescription drugs say that they have skipped doses, cut pills in half, or not filled prescriptions due to cost.”

Within HHS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation tests payment and delivery models to make healthcare costs more efficient. In June, the Innovation Center approved new models to improve the cost of cancer care. In the executive order, the President ordered Becerra to decide whether the Innovation Center should research new models for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. 

The goal of the executive order is “to lower cost-sharing for commonly used drugs and support value-based payment that promotes high-quality care,” according to a government news release.

The executive order was a follow-up to the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August that capped the cost of insulin for Medicare patients at $35 per month, and placed a cap for certain prescription drugs at the pharmacy. The legislation empowered Medicare to negotiate drug prices for certain high-cost prescription drugs for the first time. And, the legislation will require certain companies to pay Medicare rebates if they increase the prices of drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries faster than the rate of inflation.

Biden’s speech also focused on prescriptions as a key battle between parties in the upcoming election. 

“If Republicans in Congress have their way, it means the power we just gave Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices goes away.  Gone.  The $2,000 cap on prescription drugs for seniors goes away.  Gone.  The $35-a-month cap on insulin goes away.  Gone,” President Biden told the crowd in Oregon. 

The speech was the second time last week where President Biden addressed tackling prescription drug costs as a way to alleviate Americans’ concerns about inflation. 

At a community college in Irvine, California on Thursday, the President also touted the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, and touched on the Affordable Care Act and the risk of Republicans being in office. “If Republicans have their way, that’s gone as well,” President Biden said. 

In a report released earlier in the week, the government reported that inflation has averaged 2%, at an annualized rate for the past three months. That’s down from 11 percent in the previous quarter.

Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images