By AMANDA SEITZ and ZEKE MILLER
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) - President Joe Biden will highlight the stark differences in how Democrats are tackling skyrocketing drug prices compared to their Republican counterparts as he gears up for an expected reelection announcement.

In a speech on Wednesday in Las Vegas that could serve as a preview of the campaign ahead, Biden planned to put the issue of lowering drug costs at the center of his policy and political agenda.

The White House thinks it has a winning message in showcasing legislation passed last year that is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars and lower the cost of drugs for the roughly 84 million Americans who rely on Medicare.

"These kind of savings will give people a little bit more breathing room, more comfort as they decide to go to the grocery store to buy their food, more ability to pay their rent, or maybe it's just to do something decent for their families," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters on Tuesday as he previewed the Democratic president's remarks.

Biden plans to talk up how his administration is rolling out several parts of that law, passed in a Democratic-controlled Congress last year, that cap the price of insulin, make most vaccines free and allow the federal government to negotiate deals on a handful of pharmaceutical drugs for Medicare enrollees.

The federal government expects to see significant savings from those negotiations and to make money from a rule that requires drugmakers to send Medicare a check when they raise drug prices higher than inflation.

That'll help shore up the social safety net for older Americans, Biden told Democratic donors on Monday in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

"Not only is it the right thing to do for people, it cuts the deficit by $160 billion," he said.

Already, the legislation caps the price of insulin at $35 for disabled and older Americans who rely on Medicare.

Biden has proposed extending that cap to all Americans, but that plan faces an uphill battle. Efforts to pass laws capping the price of insulin for uninsured Americans or those with private insurance failed in the Democratic-controlled Congress last year.

Biden, however, has still championed last year's bill as a success for the millions of Americans who aren't on Medicare. Drug companies, facing public pressure after tripling their prices for the life-saving drug over the last two decades, have started to voluntarily lower the cost of insulin.

text insert webselectnews-2