As the clock ticks down to Election Day 2024, the candidates’ claims and counterclaims are becoming clearer. In Wisconsin, the top statewide race pits incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, against Republican challenger Eric Hovde.

During an October 18, 2024 debate that included health care costs, Baldwin targeted Hovde over expensive prescription drugs.

“He opposes efforts to negotiate with big pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of prescription drugs, saving patients and Medicare money,” Baldwin said.

But Hovde rejected.

“I think we need to negotiate with Big Pharma,” said Hovde, who has multiple sclerosis. Hovde, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in May 1991.

“I think the prices of our medicines are too high. When I started taking my MS medication, it was about $6,000 a year,” Hovde said. “Now it costs $35,000 for generic drug prices. I’m against Big Pharma.”

So does Hovde agree with lowering prescription drug prices or not? A spokesman for Hovde did not respond to an emailed request for comment. But let’s take a look at Baldwin’s claim.

Opposes the Inflation Relief Act

When asked to back up Baldwin’s claim, a staffer pointed to several statements made by Hovde opposing the Inflation Relief Act, which, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Servicesmade improvements to Medicare by expanding benefits and reducing drug costs.

“For the first time, the law gives Medicare the ability to directly negotiate the prices of certain high-spending, single-source drugs without generic or biosimilar competition,” CMS.gov website say.

The year 2022 Inflation Reduction Actamong other provisions, it included a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance subsidies and limits on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and insulin for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.

The Biden administration announced in August that, using the Inflation Reduction Act, it negotiated with drugmakers to lower the costs of the 10 most expensive Medicare drugs.

But the bill also provided $369 billion in energy and climate change infrastructure.

During a radio interview in August 2022 at The Vicki McKenna Showposted on listennotes.com Hovde referred to the Inflation Relief Act as a “big, ugly bill.”

When asked what federal programs he would cut if elected, Hovde in an October 1, 2024 radio interview with Joy Powers of “The Lake Effect” from WUWM,” said he would cut federal spending to 2019 levels. Powers asked what programs Hovde would cut if elected.

“All spending on federal programs has gone up, but most of the increase was due to things like the Inflation Relief Act, the Token Act, which, you know, I don’t know why we spent so much money on corporate welfare for the big manufacturers of chips. .”

In an opinion piece written by Hovde and published by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel October 8, 2024 Hovde wrote: “I will fight for increased price transparency throughout the healthcare system, empowering patients and employees to shop prices and make informed decisions. I will fight to require health insurers … to disclose their negotiated drug discounts and rebates, revealing the true cost of prescription drugs.”

So, basically, Hovde opposes the Inflation Relief Act, a multifaceted bill that had as one of its measures a provision that allowed price negotiation of some Medicare drugs for the first time.

Noting that, Hovde explicitly stated “I think we need to negotiate with Big Pharma” and “I think the prices of our drugs are too high.” Hovde, before the debate on October 18, 2024, also discussed what he would do to reduce costs from pharmaceutical companies.

Our decision

Baldwin said “(Hovde) opposes efforts to negotiate with big pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of prescription drugs.”

Hovde opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, which was used to negotiate lower drug prices with drug manufacturers. But there are many other expenses unrelated to drug prices in the law that Hovde calls inflationary.

Still, Hovde made it clear that he thinks drug prices are too high and that “we need to negotiate with Big Pharma” and put pressure on drugmakers in other ways.

For a statement that contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, we rate it mostly false.