Green Bay, WI – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin joined Protect Our Care Wisconsin alongside Seniors from Green Bay and Appleton to highlight how Medicare enrollees are already benefiting from the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs and improve health care for millions of Americans, and includes critical provisions that took effect this month.
Effective January 1, 2023, insulin copays are capped at $35 per month for more than three million diabetics covered by Medicare. Additionally, all adults on Medicare Part D have access to covered vaccines, such as shingles and Tdap, at no cost.
These policies alone will save seniors in Wisconsin and across the country hundreds of dollars on their health care costs, keep millions of people healthy, and prevent dangerous complications associated with diabetes, shingles, and other serious diseases.
Martha R., from Green Bay, spoke about the value of no cost vaccines for seniors on Medicare, noting that her mother, sister, and husband had all contracted shingles in the past and that the last time she and her husband got the two course vaccine it cost more than $800 for the two of them.
David H., from Appelton, is a Type 2 diabetic who has taken insulin for 15 years. Even with quality health care coverage out of pocket costs for 90 day supplies cost hundreds of dollars. Eligible for Medicare as of December 1, 2022, David will now have his out of pocket costs for insulin capped at $35/month due to the Inflation Reduction Act.
“Too many Americans are seeing the costs of their prescription drugs increase and are struggling to afford the medications they need to survive,” says Senator Baldwin. “That’s why I was proud to support the Inflation Reduction Act last year, to finally provide some relief for Wisconsin families and hold drug companies accountable for prioritizing profits over people.”
Speakers discussed how these provisions are keeping costs low for Wisconsinites, discussed additional savings to come, highlight how seniors in the state can access these benefits, and reminded Wisconsinites who do not yet have health care coverage for 2023 that ACA Open Enrollment continues until the January 15th deadline – Advanced Premium Tax Credits extended under the Inflation Reduction Act are also reducing health care premiums for 13 million families purchasing ACA marketplace coverage.
You can learn more about how the Inflation Reduction Act is keeping costs low for Wisconsinites here.
