Like last year, healthcare featured prominently in President Biden’s State of the Union Address. But unlike in 2023, this speech was different in tone on many topics, including healthcare. In an impassioned address, Biden took on the pharmaceutical industry. Asserting that Americans “pay more for prescription drugs than any nation in the world” he declared it time to enable the federal government to negotiate the prices of more prescription drugs and to broaden the reach to part of the commercial sector of health insurance. “They’re making a lot of money, guys,” Biden said of drug companies. And he added that after drug prices are lowered “they’ll still be extremely profitable.”

Healthcare has been a staple in many State of the Union Addresses over the years, including speeches given by Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton. And former President Trump devoted plenty of time in his addresses to healthcare, too. For example, in February 2020, his remarks included what he viewed as the need for lower drug prices. He stated that he would support bipartisan legislation to reduce drug costs: “Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it into law without delay.”

But it wasn’t until after President Biden took office that a bill would be signed which aimed to reduce prescription drug prices. And though the Inflation Reduction Act wasn’t a bipartisan piece of legislation, its drug pricing provisions are very popular with constituents across the political divide, according to KFF. More than 80% of adults surveyed support each of the law’s main provisions related to Medicare prescription drug costs. This includes majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents.