Daines Slams Biden-Harris Administration for Hiding Failures in New Medicare Plan

• October 8, 2024

CBO Confirms Election Year Will Cost Taxpayers at Least $7 Billion in 2025

U.S. SENATE - U.S. Senator Steve Daines today called out the Biden-Harris administration for their new Medicare policy that will cost taxpayers billions in 2025. Recently, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis of the newly announced Biden-Harris subsidy for insurance companies intended to cover up the failures of the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)." Based on CBO estimates, this election-year stunt to artificially lower the cost of seniors' Part D premiums will cost taxpayers at least $7 billion in 2025, including $2 billion in additional interest on our already ballooning debt. CBO also notes the underlying partisan policy changes to seniors' prescription drug coverage could cost up to $20 billion more in 2025 than previously assumed.

"This is politics at its worst. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are trying to hide the fact that their 'Inflation Reduction Act' will increase Medicare premiums by having taxpayers bail them out yet again.Montanans aren't fooled-the only accomplishments of this Administration are sky-high inflation, spiking prescription drug prices and trillions of dollars wasted in useless spending," said Daines.

Background:

Congressional Democrats included policies in the IRA that restructured the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit at a cost of nearly $30 billion over ten years, and as a result, Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors significantly increased their plan bids and base beneficiary premiums for 2025, and reduced the number of plans offered to seniors next year. To hide these failures, the Biden-Harris administration announced a new Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration program, which will shift financial liability onto American taxpayers by applying a uniform reduction of $15 to the base beneficiary premium, establishing a year-over-year limit of $35 on how much a plan's total Part D premium can increase, and adjusting risk corridors to shift financial liability from large insurance companies to taxpayers.

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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Rachel Dumke