Here in Washington and across the country, millions of seniors will get relief from a new law that will help reduce drug prices.

After years of calling on Congress to make prescription drugs more affordable, AARP won the fight for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices.

The new law, passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, will help in other ways.

It will limit the cost of insulin to $35 a month for people on Medicare and put a $2,000 annual cap on what seniors in Medicare plans will have to pay out of pocket for their medications.

The new law makes shingles and other vaccines free, and it penalizes drug companies if they raise prices higher than the inflation rate.

It’s estimated the law will save taxpayers and Medicare hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years by lowering drug prices.

Americans have had to pay three times more for their medications than people in other countries pay for the same drugs. And with the impact of inflation on all of us, seniors who worked hard their entire lives, raising families, building this country and giving back to their communities, shouldn’t have to choose between filling a prescription or buying gas and groceries.

This new law is genuinely life changing.

AARP led the fight to lower drug prices for America’s seniors, and we won. Our members, activists and volunteers in Washington state and across the country stood up to the big drug companies’ army of lobbyists with their massive war chest and millions of dollars in misleading advertising, and we won.

As sweet as this victory is, though, the fight isn’t over. Drug companies are already spending millions to overturn the new law and stifle competition so they can drive up their profits and keep charging Americans the highest prices in the world for the drugs they need.

AARP will keep fighting here in Washington and across the country, and we won’t back down until all Americans 50+ can afford their medication. It’s the right thing to do, and older Americans deserve nothing less.

For more information about how the new law affects drug prices, Medicare and more, go to aarp.org/rx.

Jim Ko is the AARP state president.