As the clock ticks toward Election Day 2024, candidates’ claims and counterclaims are becoming increasingly pointed. In Wisconsin, the biggest statewide contest pits incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, against her Republican challenger Eric Hovde.

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

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

But Hovde fought back.

“I believe we have 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 price of our medications is too high. When I started taking my MS medications, they cost about $6,000 a year,” Hovde said. “Now they cost $35,000 for generic drugs. I’m against big pharma.”

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

Opposes the Inflation Reduction Act

When asked to support Baldwin’s claim, a staffer pointed to several statements made by Hovde opposing the Inflation Reduction Act which the 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 prices for certain high-cost, single-source drugs, without generic or biosimilar competition,” said the CMS.gov website said.

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

The Biden administration announced in August that, through the Inflation Reduction Act, it had negotiated with drugmakers to reduce the cost of Medicare’s 10 most expensive drugs.

But the bill also included $369 billion for energy and climate change infrastructure.

During a radio interview in August 2022 on the Vicki McKenna Showpublished on listennotes.com Hovde called the Inflation Reduction Act 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 WUWM’s “The Lake Effect”“, said he would cut federal spending to 2019 levels. Powers asked what programs Hovde would cut if elected.

“All federal programs have increased, but most of the increase has been on things like the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIP Act, which, you know, I don’t know what we spent so much money for the well-being of the big chipmakers.

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

So basically, Hovde is opposed to the Inflation Reduction Act, a multifaceted bill that included among its measures a provision allowing for the first time to negotiate prices for certain Medicare drugs.

Noting this, Hovde also explicitly stated: “I think we need to negotiate with big pharmaceutical companies” and “I think our drug prices are too high.” Hovde, ahead of the October 18, 2024 debate, also discussed what he would do to reduce costs for pharmaceutical companies.

Our decision

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

Hovde opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, which was used to negotiate lower drug prices with drugmakers. But the law also provides for many other expenses, unrelated to drug prices, that Hovde calls inflationary.

Nonetheless, Hovde made it clear that he believed drug prices were too high and that “we needed to negotiate with big pharmaceutical companies” 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 classify it as false.