Press Release: The IRA Gets A Failing Grade
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2024
Advocacy Group Gives the IRA A Failing Grade For Unfriendly Patient Policies and Implications
Patients View The IRA As Anything But A Success Despite Policymakers’ Celebration Of The Law
WASHINGTON, DC – On the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the nonpartisan patient advocacy group Survivors for Solutions has released a “Report Card” grading the law’s performance. With little to show for it, the patient group issues the IRA an “F” for its failure to protect patients by hurting innovation, increasing patient out-of-pocket spending, and limiting access to treatment.
To start, the IRA’s drug price controls remove medical innovation incentives, which has resulted in the discontinuance of over 36 research programs and 21 individual drugs in under two years. Moreover, the law has failed to deliver on its promises to lower patients’ out-of-pocket spending. Despite policymaker promises that patients would see more affordable care, Medicare Part D premiums have skyrocketed since the law’s passage—and are expected to continue climbing in 2025. This cost barrier, combined with limitations on the creation of new drugs, creates an obstacle that hurts patient access.
“For patients like me, who are living with rare, chronic, or life-threatening diseases and are relying on the constant creation of new treatments, any reduction in drugs brought to market is devastating. The IRA has failed in every way that matters to patients and has degraded our innovation pipeline and entire healthcare system,” said Survivors for Solutions Founder and Chairman John Czwartacki. “On the two-year anniversary of this disastrous law, Survivors for Solutions urges policymakers to become informed on the ways it is hurting our patients most in need and urges lawmakers to enact changes that will restore the creation of vital cures.”
Find the full report card here. Our organization urges advocates to support changes that will protect patients and their access to existing and potential medications.
About Survivors for Solutions
Survivors for Solutions is a nonprofit, nonpartisan patient advocacy organization created by Multiple Sclerosis survivor John Czwartacki to stand up for those who are in need of solutions for their health challenges but are too often without a voice in Washington. Survivors for Solutions envisions a future that puts an end to illness through advancing cures for all diseases. Survivors for Solutions is determined to put a spotlight on the steps toward reaching that future.