Vice President Kamala Harris has unveiled new economic policies she would look to enact during her first 100 days in office if elected president in November.
Laid out ahead of an Aug. 16 campaign rally in Raleigh, N.C., the new agenda includes a ban on price gouging of groceries and food, subsidies for first-time home buyers and child tax credits for families.
In a news release, the campaign said the new proposals are just one part of the vice president's economic plan, which includes "protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare."
Below are four healthcare policies being pursued by Ms. Harris.
1. Lowering prescription drug costs
Ms. Harris highlighted her role in passing the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which allows CMS to negotiate the price of prescription drugs without generic or biosimilar competition that heavily cost Medicare Parts B and D. Medicare enrollees will save an estimated $1.5 billion when the negotiated prices take effect in 2026, according to CMS. Ms. Harris is proposing accelerated negotiations in order to reduce some drug costs by up to 79% in 2026.
The IRA also caps the cost of insulin at $35 for enrollees and $2,000 for out-of-pocket drug costs – the new proposals would extend the two price caps to all Americans.
2. PBMs
Ms. Harris is advocating for more competition and transparency among pharmacy benefit managers, "starting by cracking down on pharmaceutical companies who block competition and abusive practices by pharmaceutical middlemen who squeeze small pharmacies' profits and raise costs for consumers." Several federal investigations and probes into the industry are underway.
3. Medical debt
The Harris administration would work with states to cancel medical debt and enact policies to prevent debt in the future. The campaign pointed to its support of removing medical debt from nearly all credit reports and canceling $7 billion of medical debt using American Rescue Plan funds.
In June, CMS approved North Carolina's plan to push hospitals to relieve $4 billion in medical debt for about 2 million low and middle-income people, which all 99 of the state's eligible hospitals have signed onto.
4. ACA
Ms. Harris signaled that she does not want ACA premium tax credits to expire. The Biden-Harris administration passed the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, which enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health coverage on ACA exchanges. The subsidies are set to expire at the end of 2025 without congressional action.