Montana retiree saves on diabetes drugs thanks to Tester-backed law

Not long ago, Steven Harvey, a retired resident of Big Timber, Montana, was paying between $2,800 and $3,200 annually for just one of the medications he takes to manage diabetes. Now, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, his total out-of-pocket prescription drug costs will soon be capped at $2,000 a year.

Harvey, who was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago, takes Ozempic and a blood thinner. Medicare helps pay for his prescription drugs, but he has struggled to afford his co-payments.

“I have it automatically charged to my credit card. And we couldn’t pay it off all at once,” Harvey told the Montana Independent. 

The $2,000-a-year cap will apply to out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs beginning in 2025 for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, on top of a $35-a-month cap on the out-of-pocket cost of insulin for those beneficiaries that took effect in January 2023. The bill was backed by Montana Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. Republican Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Matt Rosendale voted no.

“It means I will pay less for my medication, that’s for sure,” Harvey said. “When you’re on a fixed income, that can take a pretty big bite out of your paycheck, so having it reduced to $2,000 here will be a big benefit.”

Tester’s Republican opponent this November, wealthy corporate executive Tim Sheehy, opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, falsely claiming it drove prices higher. 

Sheehy has vowed to repeal the law and said in August 2023: “Our hospitals have been built around federal health care subsidies. So in my opinion, we need to return health care to pure privatization.”

For Harvey, the Inflation Reduction Act will be a voting issue: “I would definitely support a candidate that wants to keep it because it does have a significant impact on your income. Because medications take a big bite out of your income, and you don’t want to not take them, because you need them.”