Joe Biden and Kamala Harris cast themselves as champions of America’s seniors in a David-and-Goliath battle against big pharmaceuticals on Thursday at a joint event promoting a landmark deal to lower prescription drug costs.
“We finally defeated big pharma,” the US president declared, sharing the stage with his vice president for the first time since he abandoned his re-election bid in late July and Harris replaced him as the Democratic candidate.
The event, which came after a morning announcement about new lower drug prices for beneficiaries of Medicare, a government health insurance plan for seniors, was a chance to convince voters that their government has helped lower costs after years of high inflation. Health care, particularly the high cost of prescription drugs, is a major concern for American voters. Biden had held a narrow lead over Donald Trump on his platform all year before dropping out of the race.
Related: Biden’s policies will make 10 popular drugs cheaper for people with Medicare
Harris spoke first, calling Biden “our extraordinary president,” as the crowd packed into the gymnasium of Prince George’s Community College rose to applaud the president. “Thank you, Joe,” they chanted, appreciating — according to several attendees — his record and his decision to step aside and pass the torch to Harris.
Biden called Harris an “incredible partner” and said she “would be a great president.”
“We’ve finally addressed what has been one of the biggest challenges in this space for years, which is that Medicare was legally prohibited from negotiating lower drug prices, and then those costs were passed on to our seniors,” Harris said. “But that’s not the case anymore.”
The 10 drugs under negotiation, which include common blood thinners and diabetes drugs, are expected to save $6 billion for Medicare, a major government health insurance program that covers Americans over 65 and people with certain disabilities, the government said. Seniors would save $1.5 billion directly in out-of-pocket payments.
The negotiated prices, which take effect in 2026, were authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden insisted passed without a single Republican vote. The vice president cast the tie-breaking vote in her role as president of the Senate.
“We pay far too much for prescription drugs in America,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Before Biden and Harris spoke, Maryland officials and politicians celebrated the deal, while thrilling the crowd with discreet references to Harris’ candidacy.
“President is a good title for her,” retiring Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin winked in his speech, praising Harris for helping pass the Democrats’ sweeping health and climate change bill.
Biden, simultaneously touting his record and passing the torch, warned that Trump — who the president has derided as “the guy we’re up against, what’s his name? Donald Dump?” — would revoke Medicare’s authority to negotiate drug prices if he were given a second term. He cited the sweeping conservative policy agenda, Project 2025, that Trump sought to distance himself from.
“Let me tell you what our Project 2025 is: beat the crap out of them,” Biden said, drawing loud applause.
Republican lawmakers have been critical of the Biden administration’s move, arguing that government-negotiated drug prices will stifle innovation and result in fewer life-saving drugs reaching the market.
In a joint statement, Republicans in the House of Representatives accused Biden of “price fixing.”
“Make no mistake, price fixing has failed in every industry and in every country where it has ever been tried,” said the statement from House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican leadership team. “The Biden-Harris administration says it wants to lower prices for families, but their prescription drug price fixing has accomplished only two things: driven up health care costs and stifled American innovation in medicine.”
The duo drew a raucous crowd, with hundreds of people waiting in the summer heat to witness the president’s final act and the vice president’s ascension.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time,” Biden said, noting that the first time he introduced legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices was as a freshman senator, shortly after he was elected, in 1972.
“I was too damn young for a long time, because I was only 29 when I got elected,” he said. “Now I’m too damn old.”
The negotiated prices, which take effect in 2026, are expected to save billions of dollars for the taxpayer-funded Medicare program. But they will result in direct out-of-pocket savings for only a portion of the millions of older Americans who take the drugs under negotiation. U.S. health care costs have been rising for decades, with Americans spending more than $13,000 a year on medical services and medications.
The law already caps out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month for Medicare patients. It also calls for a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket drug spending.
Earlier this week, Harris and Biden participated in a Situation Room meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East. They also appeared together on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews to welcome back American citizens wrongly detained in Russia.
The economy and cost of living remain top issues for voters during the campaign, as Democrats try to convince them that the president’s economic policies have had an impact on their wallets. Democrats cheered news of easing inflation on Wednesday. Consumer prices rose 2.9% in July, falling below 3% for the first time since 2021, new government data showed. But Americans are still plagued by the high cost of rent and groceries.
On Friday, Harris will travel to North Carolina to deliver a speech on economic policy, during which her campaign announced she would call for a federal ban on overpricing for groceries. While Trump had a lead over Biden on the economy, recent polls suggest Harris has eroded much of his early lead.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore introduced Biden and Harris, calling them the 46th and 47th presidents of the United States, prompting chants of “48” — a promising sign for the charismatic rising Democratic star.
Linda Hunt, 80, says she rarely attends political events but came here to witness history.
“I came to show him respect — that’s primary — but I also wanted to see her and hear her in person,” she said. “It was historic.”
