President Joe Biden is attempting to concentrate attention on one of his most popular measures, reducing the cost of prescription medications, in order to jump-start momentum on his stalled domestic agenda.
On Thursday, Biden will go to Culpeper, Virginia, where White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president will address the “unacceptable” cost of drugs.
“To halt the abuse of American families, we must act,” she stated.
Biden’s trip to Virginia will also provide him with an opportunity to begin pushing his party’s candidates for the November midterm elections. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is set to appear beside him, since she is in risk of losing her seat representing a central Virginia district.
“He’s excited to get out there and campaign for Democrats who are fighting for an agenda for the American people,” Psaki said on Wednesday.
Spanberger is one of numerous Democrats who have expressed concern about dwindling voter support. In a November interview with The New York Times, she argued that Biden had gone too far with his proposals for new government initiatives, which mirrored President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-era agenda.
“No one chose him to be FDR; they wanted him to be normal and bring order to the world,” she explained.
Prescription medications, on the other hand, remain a politically safe focus topic for Biden’s visit.
When Biden’s trip was revealed, Spanberger remarked, “I am glad for the administration’s attention to this problem — but more than that, I look forward to hearing the president’s approach on how we can sign a breakthrough prescription drug-focused measure into law.”
Voters have traditionally supported efforts to reduce prescription medication costs, but bipartisan agreement has eluded them. It’s uncertain if Biden’s initiatives in Congress have a political future.
Out-of-pocket prescription expenditures for Medicare users would be capped at $2,000 per year, and insulin would be $35 per month, according to his ideas. Furthermore, Medicare would be able to negotiate pricing for a restricted number of prescription pharmaceuticals, and drugmakers would be compelled to pay rebates if costs rose faster than inflation.
“I think we can all agree that prescription pharmaceuticals in our country are ridiculously costly,” Biden stated on Dec. 6.
Biden’s sweeping domestic proposal, dubbed “Build Back Better,” includes the elements. However, moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are opposing the bill, which has come to a halt.
