Casey Holds Hearing on Lowering Health Care Costs

At Aging Committee hearing, Casey touted his Capping Prescription Costs Act

Casey’s new bill would lower prescription drug costs for millions of Americans

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, held a hearing highlighting his efforts to lower health care costs for American patients. At the hearing, entitled “Health Care Transparency: Lowering Costs and Empowering Patients,” Senator Casey touted his new Capping Prescription Costs Act, which would bring down prescription costs for millions of Americans.

“Prescription drug costs are like a bag of rocks tied around the necks of millions of Americans, weighing them down every single day, and Congress has a responsibility to lessen that weight,” said Chairman Casey (D-PA). “We have made a lot of progress on health care costs over the last few years, particularly by passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which is capping prescription drug costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries. My new bill will extend those savings to the millions of Americans who have private insurance.”

Chairman Casey has long been a leader in the Senate’s efforts to bring down prescription drug costs. In August 2022, Casey fought to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to lower health care and prescription drug costs for older adults, people with disabilities, and families across the Nation. Starting in January 2023, the IRA capped the cost of insulin for Medicare Part D beneficiaries at $35 a month for certain covered insulin products. The law also will limit Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year beginning in 2025.

Casey’s new bill will extend that out-of-pocket cost cap to the commercial health care market. The new $2,000 cap on cost-sharing for individuals and $4,000 for families will apply to all of the 173 million Americans who have private health insurance.

Read more about the Capping Prescription Costs Act here.