The Trump administration is ending a key health insurance subsidy program that aimed to keep premiums for seniors’ prescription drug plans in check, claiming that it benefits corporate insurance companies, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.
Medicare Part D — the government health insurance program’s prescription drug benefit — is used by tens of millions of older or disabled beneficiaries.
The program’s subsidies are set to expire at the end of the year, the administration announced Tuesday.
That move will likely result in higher prescription costs and increase premiums for about half of recipients, according to an administration official.
Eligible seniors can get GLP-1s for $50 a month for weight loss alone
The changes are anticipated to happen in 2027 and enrollees will find out the new monthly cost later this fall, administration officials said.
Currently the government pays billions of dollars to insurance companies as a subsidy to keep prescription drug insurance at an average of $36 per person per month, according to KFF, a health policy nonprofit.
Ending the subsidies may increase premiums for some by as much as $20 a month, according to KFF.
The move comes as Affordable Care Act subsidies have expired and health care costs remain a top issue for voters ahead of the midterm elections. The ACA subsidies helped lower the out-of-pocket costs for monthly premiums for people who purchased health care through the health insurance marketplace.
Trump administration officials decried the Biden administration for signing the Inflation Reduction Act, which they allege bailed out major insurance companies and resulted in increased premiums for Americans. Trump officials also claim that billions of dollars were funneled to the companies through Biden’s signature legislation
At the time, Biden officials touted the Inflation Reduction Act for allowing the government to negotiate with drug companies about the pricing for some of their most expensive medicines.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-administration-end-medicare-part-121200737.html
Diem ‘Richard’ Nguyen
Liên Minh Bảo Hiến Mỹ Gốc Việt
Vietnamese American Conservative Alliance (VACA)
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