The high price of prescription drugs often leaves many Medicare recipients in the coverage gap, and their copays dramatically increase for the remainder of the calendar year. For Brian Manning of Hooksett, New Hampshire, landing in the coverage gap left him with no option but to rely on free samples of his medication.
![Brian Manning sits and smiles in a lawn chair.]()
Brian Manning is pictured in July 2021. (Photo credit: Brian Manning)
After retiring from a career as a union pipefitter, Brian recently enrolled in Medicare. He has several health conditions that require him to take expensive medications. Brian just hit the Medicare coverage gap, often referred to as the donut hole, and now faces costs of $171 per month for a single drug to treat his diabetes, on top of other drug costs. As a result, he currently relies on free samples from his doctor’s office and worries about what will happen when those run out. Brian is excited by the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that will lower drug prices.
I just hit the donut hole in my prescription coverage. Now it’s going to cost me $171 a month to refill my prescription for Farxiga. I just looked it up and saw that the same drug in Canada costs one-tenth of the price here in the United States. For the time being, I am relying on free samples from my doctor’s office, but sometimes the office doesn’t have them. Seniors in the United States need all the help we can get.
Brian Manning
Pharmaceutical companies and drug manufacturers exploit everyday Americans by imposing higher drug costs than those in any peer nation. But Democrats in Congress are standing up to Big Pharma and protecting Americans by enacting the Inflation Reduction Act.
Read more stories on how recent legislation has benefited Americans
This collection features stories from people in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire whose lives have been improved by the legislation passed during the Biden administration’s first two years.