President Joe Biden visited New Hampshire on Oct. 22 to promote his administration’s efforts to reduce prescription drug costs, stating his policies have saved Americans nearly $1 billion on medications this year.
Biden’s speech took place two weeks before Election Day, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in a tight race for the White House.
Speaking at a community college in Concord, Biden said signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law was “one of the proudest things” he has ever done.
“Not a single Republican voted for this,” Biden said. “But thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, we finally beat Big Pharma.”
In the first six months of this year alone, Biden said, nearly 1.5 million people enrolled in Medicare spent $1 billion less on drugs nationwide. That’s about $670 each.
“That means, as of June, 1.5 million Americans who are enrolled in Medicare hit the cap and do not have to pay a dime more for drugs for the rest of the year,” he added.
During his speech, Biden also took several jabs at his predecessor, criticizing Trump for his campaign promise to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Trump said during the presidential debate in September that if he got elected, he would replace the Affordable Care Act. He said he had “concepts of a plan” to replace it.
Biden was joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in New Hampshire. Speaking at the event, Sanders called on the pharmaceutical industry to “stop ripping off the American people.”
“We’re spending over $13,000 for every man, woman, and child, an unsustainable amount of money,” Sanders said. “The truth of the matter is that the American people, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents, are sick and tired of paying by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.”
Biden is traveling this week to highlight his administration’s achievements and support Harris’s election efforts in the campaign’s final stretch.
He is scheduled to visit Arizona to deliver a speech on Friday.
“The president will deliver remarks at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona,” the White House announced. “The president will discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s record of delivering for tribal communities, including keeping his promise to make this historic visit to Indian Country—his first as president.”
With just two weeks until Election Day, polls show a neck-and-neck race between Harris and Trump in seven swing states, which are likely to determine the race for the White House.
The Harris campaign announced that the vice president would travel to deep-red Texas on Oct. 25 to emphasize her campaign message on abortion access in a state with restrictive abortion laws.
Meanwhile, Trump will visit New York City one week before the election. He will hold a highly anticipated rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27.
