Where will lower prescription drug prices help the most?
Seniors are saving millions in health care costs because of President Biden’s Prescription Drug Law.
“Americans pay two to three times more for prescription drugs than other countries. President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which for the first time allows Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for seniors, caps the cost of insulin at $35, makes recommended vaccines free for Medicare beneficiaries, and requires prescription drug companies to pay rebates to Medicare if they raise their prices faster than inflation. Millions of seniors are saving hundreds of dollars each per year because of these actions.
President Biden is fighting to expand these cost savings to all Americans but faces Republican opposition:
– The House’s new Republican majority is coalescing behind a plan lower taxes for the rich while gutting social spending on the poor and elderly. – NY Mag
– Rick Scott laid out a plan to require Congress to reconsider all federal laws every five years — leading to criticism that Social Security and Medicare would be cut. – AP
– The House Republican Study Committee proposed raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67. – AP
Check this map to see the savings from insulin price caps and no out of pocket costs for Medicare Part D Covered vaccines.
Biden caps the price of insulin
The Biden administration is rolling out several parts of that law, passed in a Democratic-controlled Congress last year, that cap the price of insulin, make most vaccines free and allow the federal government to negotiate deals on a handful of pharmaceutical drugs for Medicare enrollees. “These kind of savings will give people a little bit more breathing room, more comfort as they decide to go to the grocery store to buy their food, more ability to pay their rent, or maybe it’s just to do something decent for their families,” said Xavier Becerra, Health and Human Services Secretary. – AP
Learn about INSULIN price savings
Learn about savings on vaccination costs
Who would suffer from Republicans cutting Medicare?
“Republicans are pushing to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and slash Medicare.” – Briefing Room. Members of Congress are paid $174,000 with your tax payer dollars and access to “free or low-cost care” through the Office of the Attending Physician (CNBC), but are intent on cutting healthcare for regular Americans.
Check this map to see the number of people without health insurance there are in each state, congressional district and county. How many young people and seniors do not have healthcare? Where will Americans be devastated by Republican scheme to cut Medicare?
How Republican healthcare cuts will hurt you
More than 100 million people with pre-existing health conditions could lose critical protections. Before the ACA, more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing health conditions could have been denied coverage or charged more if they tried to buy individual market health insurance. Republican repeal proposals either eliminate these protections outright or find other ways to gut them.
Up to 24 million people could lose protection against catastrophic medical bills. Before the ACA, insurance plans were not required to limit enrollees’ total costs, and almost one in five people with employer coverage had no limit on out-of-pocket costs, meaning they were exposed to tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills if they became seriously ill.
Tens of millions of people could see their prescription drug coverage scaled back. Prescription drug coverage is an optional benefit under Medicaid. If states faced large cuts to their federal Medicaid funding, millions of Medicaid enrollees could see their coverage scaled back or have a harder time getting their prescriptions because of extra red tape.
More of the over 500 rural hospitals at risk of closure could close. The ACA, especially its expansion of Medicaid, helped cut hospital uncompensated care by about $12 billion, helping hospitals, especially rural hospitals, stay afloat. Between 2010 and 2021, nearly three-fourths of rural hospital closures were in states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion, with research finding that expansion disproportionately improved rural hospital margins and helped avert rural hospital closures. If the ACA is repealed, and millions lose coverage, closures among at-risk hospitals could increase significantly. Read more
TakeAway: Hold politicians whose salaries you pay accountable for putting their politics ahead of your healthcare.
Deepak
DemLabs
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Reposted from Democracy Labs with permission.
