Senator Sanders proposes reining in drug prices and expanding Medicare

Burgess Everett writes for Politico about Senator Bernie Sanders’ plan to rein in Medicare prescription drug prices and use the savings to improve and expand Medicare through the reconciliation process in Congress. President Biden has also called for expanding Medicare. But, fearing a loss of revenue, some stakeholders are sure to push back hard.

Sanders proposes both Medicare drug price negotiation and an expansion of Medicare to people 55 or 60 and older, with coverage of dental care, vision care and hearing aids. All these changes would be included in the infrastructure bill that Congress is now working on.

Investing in infrastructure is part of the next reconciliation bill, which will have a big impact on our budget and therefore only needs to pass Congress by majority vote. Any reforms that do not have a budgetary impact are subject to the filibuster and cannot be passed without at least 60 votes. The infrastructure legislation will also raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Sanders projects that Medicare drug price negotiation would save $450 billion over ten years. It would pay for the additional dental, vision and hearing benefits he is proposing with $100 billion to spare. He estimates that they will cost $350 billion over ten years.

Lowering the age of Medicare eligibility has significant public support. According to a Fall 2020 GoHealth survey, seven in ten people polled who were not on Medicare favor lowering the age of eligibility. Nearly six in ten people with Medicare support this policy. If Medicare eligibility were lowered to age 60, Medicare would cover as many as 23 million more people.

Hospitals are sure to object to lowering the age of Medicare eligibility. Medicare rates are significantly lower than commercial insurance rates. Hospitals fear the potential loss of revenue. But, they should recognize that they don’t make as much money as they think they do in the commercial market. Among other things, many face 20 percent denial rates from commercial insurers and have higher administrative costs than they do with traditional Medicare.

Here’s more from Just Care:

• How would lowering the Medicare eligibility age to 60 help?
• Congresswomen Jayapal and Dingell introduce Medicare for All Act
• Medicare Part D drug coverage in 2021
• The deadly consequences of out-of-pocket drug costs
• The wrong choice of Medicare Advantage plan could kill you