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President Joe Biden said earlier on Sunday that he would end his re-election campaign and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, with the focus now turning to her stance on issues.
While Harris is not guaranteed the Democratic nomination Several prominent lawmakers have already expressed support for her in the presidential bid.
Harris has worked on issues involving health care since she became California’s attorney general. One of her most significant incidents occurred in July 2016, when she joined 11 other state attorneys general in suing Cigna International (NYSE:CI) and Anthem, now known as Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV). The deal eventually fell apart.
A year ago, she questioned whether for-profit hospital operator Prime Healthcare would be interested in buying the secure network system Daughters of Charity Health System. Although the deal was struck, hundreds of conditions were attached.
When Harris first joined the U.S. Senate in 2017, she supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All proposal, which would provide a single-payer national health care system.
She later softened her stance in 2019 by running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination through a role in private health plans.
As vice president, Harris oversaw two key pieces of legislation signed by Biden that affected drug pricing: a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin for Medicare enrollees and Medicare drug pricing negotiations.
Although the Inflation Reduction Act cap only applies to Medicare enrollees, three major insulin manufacturers, Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Sanofi (SNY) also offer select insulins for $35 per month, regardless of insurance status.
Some of the drugs in Medicare pricing negotiations starting in 2026 include Eliquis, a blood thinner marketed by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) and Pfizer (PFE); Merck & Co.NYSE:MRK) anti-diabetic drug Januvia; Imbruvica is a blood cancer treatment marketed by AbbVie (ABBV) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).
