For many older New Hampshirites, paying for prescription drugs has become increasingly difficult. Year after year, pharmaceutical companies have been allowed to get away with arbitrarily hiking prices on essential medications, and seniors have been more and more hard-pressed to pay for the drugs they need to treat life-threatening illnesses and debilitating conditions. Thankfully, Democrats in Congress, including New Hampshire’s own Sen. Maggie Hassan, did the right thing and passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a bill that’s finally going to bring Big Pharma to heel for the first time in decades.
Sen. Hassan deserves thanks for helping to make the bill a reality. The IRA gives Medicare the power to negotiate the prices of prescription drugs, which for years have been set by the same companies who make them. What’s more, the number of drug prices Medicare can negotiate with pharmaceutical firms will increase over the next several years, giving seniors more relief as time goes on. Importantly, drug companies will be penalized if they ever attempt to unnecessarily hike their prices in the future, a welcome mechanism for accountability. Before the IRA, drug companies believed they could get away with anything while senior New Hampshirites dealt with the consequences. With Election Day right around the corner, we should remember that Sen. Hassan gave older folks in New Hampshire some peace of mind about paying for life-saving medications.
Susan Ford
Easton