Biden sees a $35 price cap for insulin as a pivotal campaign issue. It’s not that clear-cut
President Joe Biden frequently cites insulin prices as he promotes a $35 price cap for Americans with diabetes who are on Medicare
WASHINGTON — Rarely a day goes without President Joe Biden mentioning insulin prices.
He promotes a $35 price cap for the medication for Americans on Medicare — in White House speeches, campaign stops and even at non-health care events around the country. His reelection team has flooded swing-state airwaves with ads mentioning it, in English and Spanish.
All that would seemingly add up to a sweeping political and economic impact. The reality is more complicated.
As his campaign tries to emphasize what it sees as an advantage over presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, Biden often overstates what those people who are eligible for the price cap once paid for insulin. It’s also not clear whether the number of Americans being helped will be enough to help sway November’s election, even in the most closely contested states that could come down to a few thousand votes.
“It is about political signaling in a campaign much more than it is about demonstrating for people that they benefit from the insulin cap,” said Drew Altman, president and CEO of KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues. “It is a way to make concrete the fact that you are the health care candidate.”
Many who are benefiting from the price cap were already getting insulin at reduced prices, were already Biden supporters, or both. Others who need reduced-price insulin, meanwhile, cannot get it because they do not have Medicare or private health insurance.
Biden’s campaign is emphasizing the president's successful efforts to reduce insulin prices and contrasting that with Trump, who first ran for president promising
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