(CHARLESTON, WV) – On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, lowering costs and improving health care for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians.
“The Inflation Reduction Act includes the most significant expansion of affordable health care in more than two decades,” said Ellen Allen, Executive Director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care. “Lowering costs will be a life saver for seniors and families who have been forced to choose between affording their prescription drugs or going to the doctor and making ends meet.”
The IRA lowers premium costs for 13 million Americans who purchase coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, including over 23,000 in West Virginia. It also gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices, limits the cost of insulin to $35 a month, and caps senior out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. Thanks to this law, Medicare finally has the power to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices that alone will benefit over 300-thousand West Virginians.
“The Inflation Reduction Act is a game-changer, lowering health care costs for seniors and families across West Virginia and all Americans to make health care a right, not a privilege,” said Allen. “The policies included in the IRA will save Americans thousands of dollars a year — the greatest health care achievement since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.”
West Virginians for Affordable Health Care brings a consumer voice to public policy so that every West Virginian has quality, affordable health care and the opportunity to lead an informed, healthy and productive life. It achieves its mission by working with partners to identify and advocate for positive public policy change, developing and coordinating innovative public education programs, protecting and preserving programs that serve its mission, and assisting individual consumers in navigating the healthcare system.
