A Big Announcement Thursday Could Mean Big Things For Seniors — And The Election

A big announcement widely expected to come on Thursday should tell us a lot about one of the Biden administration’s most important policy achievements: a reform with the potential to touch the lives of millions of seniors, alter the pharmaceutical market and, just maybe, affect the November elections as well.

The Department of Health and Human Services is about to publish the final prices for 10 prescription drugs that Medicare covers, following negotiations between the federal government and the pharmaceutical manufacturers. The drugs include expensive, widely used blood thinners and diabetes treatments, as well as a cancer therapy medication.

Such negotiations are routine in most other economically advanced countries ― it’s the way their governments set drug prices — but they have never before taken place in the U.S. That’s changing this year thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed on a party-line vote and President Joe Biden signed into law last year.

Under the law, the annual, yearlong negotiation process ends with the publication of the new prices by Sept. 1. And while the administration has not said publicly exactly when it plans to publish the new prices, the White House has announced that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are appearing together in Maryland on Thursday “to discuss the progress they are making to lower costs for the American people.”

As Politicoreported late last week and sources familiar with planning have since confirmed to HuffPost, the purpose of the joint appearance is to tout the new prices, following some kind of announcement before markets open on Thursday morning.

Thursday’s appearance is a White House event, not a campaign stop. But it’s safe to assume that