It’s Tuesday…
President Biden’s public schedule for 10/03/2023:
| 9:00 AM Presidential Daily Brief | The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing The White House Closed Press |
| 10:00 AM | In-Town Pool Call Time The White House In-Town Pool |
| 1:00 PM Press Briefing | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby James S. Brady Press Briefing Room |
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and John Kirby @1:00 p.m. D.C., time:
Americans with Disabilities Act Celebration Tweets
From Monday…
Today, we celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a step towards our nation’s founding promise that every American has a right to be respected for who they are.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 2, 2023
Listen in: https://t.co/f7pxZyY0YI
The YouTube is 18 minutes and 39 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
Americans with disabilities deserve dignity, respect, and an equal chance at the American Dream.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 2, 2023
You know, one of my first acts as a United States senator — I know I don’t look old enough to do it — (laughter) — but one of my first acts was I voted — I was a co-sponsor of the Rehabilitation Act, which was — (applause) — the first time in our nation’s history we declared in law what we knew to be true: that Americans with disabilities deserve dignity, respect, and an equal chance at the American Dream.
White House.gov. 10/02/2023.
For more than 61 million Americans living with a disability, the ADA and Rehabilitation Acts are a source of opportunity, meaningful inclusion, participation, and respect.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 2, 2023
Ensuring the American dream is for all of us – not just some of us.
It marked progress that wasn’t political but personal for millions of disabled American veterans and families. Folks, for more than 61 million Americans living with disability, these laws are a source of opportunity, meaningful inclusion, participation, respect, and, as my dad would say, the most important of all, dignity. Being treated with dignity.
Ensuring the American Dream is for all of us, not just some of us. A bulwark against discrimination and a path to personal independence.
White House.gov. 10/02/2023.
History shows it’s often not the people in power, but the power of the people that moves our nation forward.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 3, 2023
When we passed the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, we committed to building an America for all Americans.
Importantly, we did it together. pic.twitter.com/1mJAThXgyG
History shows it’s often not the people in power but the power of the people that moves a nation forward. (Applause.) And all of you did.
[snip]
And when we passed this law, we made a commitment to build an America for all Americans — for all Americans.
Perhaps most importantly, we did it together. This was a bipartisan bill, signed into law by a Republican president, George H.W. Bush, 33 years ago on this spot on the South Lawn of the White House.
White House.gov. 10/02/2023.
For millions of Americans, their disability is a source of identity and power.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 3, 2023
That’s the essence of disability pride.
It’s the essence of what so many who joined me at the White House today have fought for – and of the progress we’ll continue to make together. pic.twitter.com/6iL4SxEQvh
The ADA and Rehabilitation Acts represent progress hard fought and won – and making real our nation’s founding promise that every American has a right to be recognized and respected for who they are. pic.twitter.com/Sl7lATtMq1
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 3, 2023
The video clip is 43 seconds long.
So, let me close with this. Judy Heumann, in reflecting on her life, wrote, and I quote, “Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can.”
Well, that’s the story we celebrated here today: progress, hard fought and won, making real our nation’s founding promise that every American — every American has a right to be recognized and respected for who they are.
And millions of Americans with disability, it’s a source of identity and power. This is the essence of [the] disability pride. Look, folks, it’s the essence of what Judy and so many of you here today have fought so hard for and the progress we’ll continue to make together.
White House.gov. 10/02/2023.
Nobel Prize in Medicine Tweet
From Monday…
Today, two trailblazing researchers received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for work that enabled the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 2, 2023
Dr. Katalin Karikó and Dr. Drew Weissman, congratulations.
You have the admiration of an indebted nation.
BREAKING NEWS
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 2, 2023
The 2023 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/Y62uJDlNMj
Putting Pressure Tweet
From Tuesday…
Speaker McCarthy and the majority of House Republicans must keep their word and secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine as it defends itself.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 3, 2023
We are the indispensable nation in the world – let’s act like it.
The long awaited pissing contest inside the House Republican party has come. Yeah, I can’t cover this bullshit seriously…
Yesterday…
Today I’m filing a motion to vacate against @SpeakerMcCarthy. pic.twitter.com/voGdX1Ky67
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) October 2, 2023
Kevin responded…
Bring it on.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) October 2, 2023
Cause this is high school or something…
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters he is confident he will survive the vote to oust him saying, "I'm confident I'll hold on." He goes on to say it seems "very personal" with Rep. Gaetz and that he is not looking out for the country or institution. pic.twitter.com/B4BuApK1Fd
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 3, 2023
He says in the 4 minutes of bullshit spewing…
That he’ll put the motion to vacate up today…
I listened to the clip and he really is a piece of shit human…
The live feed says the House session is in recess until “approximately” noon.
Announces Manufacturers Participating in Drug Price Negotiation Program Tweet
From Tuesday…
In August I announced Medicare had selected ten drugs for price negotiation.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 3, 2023
Well, last Friday a court blocked Big Pharma and their allies when they tried to stop us.
Now, those manufacturers are coming to the table, where Medicare will work to lower prices for seniors. pic.twitter.com/PNuaBWtfPk
The video clip is 1 minute and 35 seconds long. I will skip transcribing this and just post the fact-sheet from the White House…
Biden-Harris Administration Takes Major Step Forward in Lowering Health Care Costs; Announces Manufacturers Participating in Drug Price Negotiation Program (10/03/2023):
See President Biden’s video announcing the news HERE [it’s the tweet]: “Today I can announce that the manufacturers of ten drugs are coming to the negotiating table to lower prices. They’re taking steps to participate in the negotiating program so we can give seniors the best possible deal.”
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration took another major step towards lower health care costs for seniors and families and announced that all manufacturers of all ten drugs selected for negotiation have signed agreements to participate in the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. For decades, Big Pharma fought to block Medicare from directly negotiating lower drug prices for seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries, while nearly three in ten Americans struggle to afford their medications because of cost. President Biden and Congressional Democrats finally beat Big Pharma and allowed Medicare to directly negotiate lower drug prices by passing the Inflation Reduction Act – despite zero Republicans voting in favor of the bill.
In total, the 10 drugs selected for negotiation accounted for $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs for an estimated 9 million Medicare enrollees in 2022. These drugs are used to treat heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, cancers, blood clots, and other conditions.
White House.gov. 10/03/2023.
*Manufacturers participating in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program:
| Participating Manufacturer | Prescription Drug Name | Commonly Treated Conditions |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | Eliquis | Prevention and treatment of blood clots |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | Jardiance | Diabetes; Heart failure |
| Janssen Pharms | Xarelto | Prevention and treatment of blood clots; Reduction of risk for patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease |
| Merck Sharp Dohme | Januvia | Diabetes |
| AstraZeneca AB | Farxiga | Diabetes; Heart failure; Chronic kidney disease |
| Novartis Pharms Corp | Entresto | Heart failure |
| Immunex Corporation | Enbrel | Rheumatoid arthritis; Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis |
| Pharmacyclics LLC | Imbruvica | Blood cancers |
| Janssen Biotech, Inc. | Stalara | Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis |
| Novo Nordisk Inc. | Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill | Diabetes |
*I cut off the chart; follow the link to view the whole chart*
In August, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the first ten drugs selected for Medicare drug price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act. The deadline for manufacturers of these drugs to notify CMS whether they were participating in the negotiation process was October 1st, and the deadline to submit manufacturer-specific data to CMS was October 2nd.
Any prices negotiated for the first set of drugs participating in the drug price negotiation program will go into effect in 2026. Over the next 4 years, Medicare will negotiate prices for up to 60 drugs covered under Medicare Part D and Part B, and up to an additional 20 drugs every year after that.
White House.gov. 10/03/2023.
Continuing to Lower Prescription Drug Costs
Every day, millions of seniors are saving money on prescription drug costs because of the Biden Administration’s actions. People with Medicare are saving an average of $70 in out-of-pocket costs on vaccines like shingles and Tdap because President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act made recommended vaccines free for beneficiaries starting this past January. Nearly four million seniors and others on Medicare with diabetes had their insulin costs capped at $35 per month this past January, saving some seniors hundreds of dollars for a month’s supply. And some seniors taking drugs covered under Part B for which manufacturers have hiked prices faster than inflation are saving up to $618 in lower coinsurance this quarter thanks to the new Medicare inflation rebates.
People with Medicare will continue to see their prescription drug costs go down as more provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act go into effect in the coming years. Medicare Part D enrollees will no longer pay 5% co-insurance when they reach the catastrophic phase of their benefit starting in 2024. Nearly 19 million seniors and other Medicare Part D enrollees are projected to save $400 per year on prescription drugs when the out-of-pocket cap drops to $2,000 in 2025, and 1.9 million enrollees with the highest drug costs will save an average of $2,500 per year. And, the prices negotiated for the high-spend drugs selected in August will go into effect in 2026.
White House.gov. 10/03/2023.
This is an open thread
