Reggie Williamson has had a busy week.
The Durham resident said that he was in the hospital earlier this week due to arthritis pain. Then on Thursday, he watched the Vice President speak in his hometown.
"I'm still having pain, but I'm here. I'm glad to be here, too," he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Durham Center for Senior Life, and gave this simple message: The Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act helps seniors save money on health care.
"In our nation, at least 9% of our seniors live in poverty," she said. "Among women 80 years old and over, that number jumps to 14%."
One way the administration wants to make health care more affordable to seniors is by lowering the cost of insulin. Diabetes affects one out of every four seniors, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But many seniors can't afford to refill their insulin prescription every month, so they ration the drug.
"Starting next year, our administration will cap the cost of insulin prescriptions for people on Medicare to $35 a month," Harris told the crowd, which drew one of the loudest applauses of the afternoon.
Harris added that Medicare will begin negotiating with drug companies to lower costs of other prescriptions as well. That could help out seniors — like Williamson — a lot.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that hearing aids should be sold without a prescription. The Biden administration says that could potentially lowering their price by thousands of dollars.
Gov. Roy Cooper introduced Harris on Thursday. He focused his remarks on Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans. The Biden Administration has been adding financial sweeteners to encourage the remaining 12 states that have not expanded the program to join those that have. Cooper said North Carolina is missing out on more than $500 million every month that it doesn't pass expansion.
