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Biden-Harris admin accused of exploiting taxpayers to mask Medicare premium hikes before election

August 14, 2024 | | Print Article

Medicare premiums are set to skyrocket with the Biden administration looking to mask the impact ahead of the election with one former Trump adviser warning the program is in a “death spiral.”

Critics are calling out the administration for exploiting taxpayer dollars in order to disguise rate increases with some premiums set to nearly triple in costs to consumers.

“Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was intended to cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, insurers are poised to significantly hike monthly premiums, with average bids for Part D plans expected to triple by 2025,” Fox News reported.

In a move that seems to reinforce President Joe Biden’s flub about beating Medicare during his debate against former President Donald Trump, the administration is hoping to mask the rate increases by presenting a plan that appears to provide relief.

“In response to potential voter backlash, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a three-year ‘demonstration project’ to subsidize these premiums, aiming to keep them artificially low,” Fox News noted.

But critics are warning that it is taxpayers who will be footing the costs as subsidies increase, reportedly from $30 a month per person in 2024 to $142.70 in 2025.

“Thanks to the Biden-Harris admin’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare Part D premiums are soaring, forcing higher costs on seniors who are already struggling with record inflation,” Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott wrote on X. “No matter how you slice it, Democrats are forcing YOU to pay for their failed, socialist policies.”

“They’ve destroyed part D premiums,” former Trump advisor Joe Grogan told Fox News Digital.

“I’m not sure it’ll survive legal scrutiny if someone were to sue. Objectively, it shouldn’t be done. It’s just interjecting $5-10 billion of taxpayer dollars, while the taxpayers are paying the price 85 days before an election. It’s sickening,” the former domestic policy advisor added.

“This is only going to get worse in 2025, 2026,” Grogan warned. “The program is in a death spiral. They announced a three-year demo. It’s already broken. The demo is going to fail. Premiums are still going to go up.”

The CMS demo plan was called out as a “fake, costly demonstration” in a recent analysis by Paragon Health Institute.

“Fearing the premium increases that the IRA redesign will impose on Part D plans, CMS has now launched a new voluntary, nationwide demonstration program that is neither a demonstration nor voluntary,” the health care research group contended.

“Unlike this massive subsidization scheme, demonstrations are supposed to be limited in nature and test alternative features of program design,” the analysis noted. “As a result of the IRA changes, insurers that don’t participate are expected to either be uncompetitive from a price perspective or face significant losses – hardly a choice for insurers.”

According to the latest data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as of April 2024, there were about 67.3 million Americans enrolled in Medicare.

“They just want to get through the election,” Grogan told Fox News Digital. “They’re hoping after the election they can face it, but it’s gonna need to be dealt with in the next 12–18 months. They did not believe it would be this bad and it’s only gonna get worse.”

Frieda Powers
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