VIDEO: Hirono Highlights Inflation Reduction Act’s Health Care Savings for Hawaii Families and Seniors

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mazie K. Hirono delivered remarks at Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s weekly press conference highlighting the historic provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 to make health care more affordable for people in Hawaii and across the country. The IRA will lower health care costs for seniors by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for prescription drugs and capping out of pocket drug costs for Medicare recipients at $2,000 a year. The law also includes a provision sponsored by Senator Hirono to ensure Medicare recipients can receive all necessary vaccinations at no cost.

“One thing that is going to make a difference to so many seniors right now is that those seniors under Medicare will be able to get their vaccinations free,” said Senator Hirono. “[Democrats] are the party that has been addressing and doing the kinds of actions that really enable lowering of drug costs, fighting climate change, without a single Republican vote. There is a huge difference between what we care about and what they focus on.”

Senator Hirono’s full remarks are below and can be viewed here.

Linsey Graham’s bill is yet another example of how out of touch the Republicans are with issues that really matter to the American people.

Focusing on the Inflation Reduction Act and the lowering of prescription drug costs—there are about close to 300,000 seniors in Hawaii who rely on Medicare, and lowering prescription drug costs in Medicare and enabling us to negotiate these costs is something that so many of us who are here, when the Affordable Care Act was first enacted, something that we have been pushing for for over ten years. It took that long for us to enact this right to negotiate, something that the VA—which is the largest health care system in our country—has been doing for decades.

Also, capping out of pocket costs for seniors at $2,000 is going to enable over a million seniors in our country to be able to have those costs capped. One thing that is going to make a difference to so many seniors right now is that those seniors under Medicare will be able to get their vaccinations free, especially, for example, the shingles vaccine. One out of three older Americans will be affected by shingles and a lot of them don’t get the vaccine because they had to pay for it—no longer. And it happened to be a bill that I have been pushing for a lot of years.

This goes to show, as we have been saying—we, Democrats have been saying—is that we are the party that has been addressing and doing the kinds of actions that really enable lowering of drug costs, fighting climate change, without a single Republican vote. There is a huge difference between what we care about and what they focus on.

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