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This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire
By Newt Gingrich & Jim Frogue
Real Clear Wire
President Joe Biden’s full-frontal assault on Medicare is becoming
visible to America’s seniors. It will result in fewer patient choices,
reduced benefits, and ultimately worse health outcomes. Biden’s efforts,
assisted by Congressional Democrats, are destroying Medicare Advantage
and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage.
Medicare Advantage was originally created as Medicare Part C in 1997
when I was Speaker of the House. It was introduced to create more
comprehensive health plan options for seniors that included, for the
first time, prescription drug coverage. The idea was to leverage
consumer choice and market competition by insurers. Seniors can change
plans annually for any reason.
More than 30 million seniors are in Medicare Advantage, which is more
than half of all Medicare-eligible seniors. Enrollment has been on a
“steady climb for the for past two decades,” according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. All MA enrollees have voluntarily chosen to join because it is better for their health.
A 2021 poll by Better Medicare Alliance
showed seniors in MA have a 98 percent satisfaction rate. Ninety-five
percent said it is important to have options beyond traditional
Medicare. Ninety-three percent said a candidate’s position on MA would
affect their vote. A bipartisan poll by the Healthcare Leadership Council in November, 2023 found more than 9-in-10 said they were pleased with their MA coverage.
Last week, CVS Aetna Chief Financial Officer Tom Cowhey told
investors that the company may shed up to 10 percent of their four
million MA enrollees next year. Humana CFO Susan Diamond suggested 5
percent of their enrollees may be dropped. This translates into as many
as 1.5 million seniors losing their coverage of choice. And this figure
is dwarfed by the millions of MA beneficiaries who will see reduced
coverage around prescription drugs, vision, dental, transportation, gym
memberships, and many other popular benefits that are only offered in
Medicare Advantage.
A new report
by the Kaiser Family Foundation noted that most states offer Medicare
Advantage plans to their state retirees. Twelve states, including key
swing states Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia, offer only Medicare Advantage plans. Senior voters in Philadelphia’s Main Line are unlikely to appreciate attacks on Medicare Advantage.Biden’s war on Medicare doesn’t end with just Medicare Advantage. The
so-called Inflation Reduction Act – passed in 2022 with exclusively
Democratic votes and was signed into law by President Biden – is
wrecking the popular Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage.
Medicare Part D was created by Congressional Republicans in 2003 and
was signed into law by President George W. Bush. For nearly two decades,
Part D prescription drug-only plans were stable, affordable,
competitive, and did something truly amazing for a health care program –
stayed within original budget projections. To the surprise of even the
bill’s authors, more than 1,000 plans signed up to participate within a
year.
The Democrats promised that their Inflation Reduction Act would
increase drug coverage for seniors and limit their out-of-pocket costs
to $2,000 per year in 2025. It also allows seniors to pay their drug
costs in installments. Sounds great. But seniors will be shocked on Oct.
1 when their Part D premiums skyrocket. Premiums were up 21percent last
year and are likely to jump 50 percent this year. Awkward timing for Biden and fellow Democrats who are hoping to campaign on “lowering prescription drug costs.”
The Inflation Reduction Act is negatively impacting patient
cost-sharing for prescription drugs in Medicare Part B as well.
According to a new analysis
in the trade publication Drug Channels, the inflation adjuster for most
drugs is increasing instead of decreasing. Even instances where a drug
price may be declining, it could still trigger big jumps in patient
out-of-pocket costs.
IRA proponents boasted of their Medicare reforms saving $266 billion from 2023 to 2031.
Even if that projection ends up holding true (and it doesn’t look
likely), that amount is only a partial down payment on $670 billion for
the IRA’s various green energy tax credits and new environmental
spending.
How well is the Biden administration’s green energy spending going? The $7.5 billion in federal spending has resulted in only eight new charging stations for electric vehicles. And this at the same time consumer interest in electric cars is plummeting. It is well known that the political left in America wants to move us
toward government-run single payer health care. Imagine just one insurer
and if you don’t like it you can’t leave. So, it is no surprise that
Democrats would want to destroy the private sector’s involvement in
Medicare, no matter how popular with seniors. But it is somewhat
surprising that Democrats would be so politically obtuse to have smoking
wreckage appear just before the presidential election. It remains to be
seen if Republicans will capitalize.
Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
from 1995-1999 and a candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential
nomination. He is chairman of Gingrich 360. James Frogue was a senior
health policy advisor to Trump for President in 2016. He is cofounder of
FrogueClark .
This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire.
