By The Opinion
16 Aug 2024, 01:20 AM EDT
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared together at their first public event since she replaced him as the Democratic nominee, touting the administration’s new plan to lower prescription drug prices for Americans on Medicare.
At the event, the two presented themselves as the victors in a David and Goliath fight against big pharmaceutical companies, at a joint event to promote a landmark agreement to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
“We finally beat Big Pharma,” the US president declared, sharing the stage with his vice president for the first time since he abandoned his bid for re-election.
The event, which came after a morning announcement of new, lower drug prices for beneficiaries of Medicare, a government health insurance plan for seniors, was an opportunity to persuade voters that his administration has helped ease costs after years of high inflation.
Appearing at Prince George’s County Community College in Maryland, a light-hearted Biden praised Harris, saying: “She will be an extraordinary president”.
“There is a lot of love in this room for our president,” Harris said.“And I think it’s for many, many reasons, not least of which is that few leaders in our nation have done more on so many issues, like expanding access to affordable health care, than Joe Biden.”
As announced by the White House, Medicare has reached agreements with drug manufacturers to reduce prices on the 10 drugs selected for the initial round of negotiations.
“It’s a relief for the millions of seniors who take these drugs to treat everything from heart failure and blood clots to diabetes, arthritis, Crohn’s disease and more, and it’s a relief for American taxpayers,” Biden said.
Before Biden and Harris spoke, administration officials and Maryland politicians celebrated the deal while exciting the crowd with references to Harris’s candidacy.
“President is a good title for her,” outgoing Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin said in his remarks.and credited Harris with helping pass Democrats’ sweeping health care and climate change bill.
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