President Trump has been unsuccessful at keeping pharmaceutical companies from raising prices, let alone enacting policies that lower them. So, he’s now claiming he is going to give $200 to millions of people with Medicare to help pay for the cost of their drugs. Even if he succeeds at this cockamamie plan, he is backing a challenge to the Affordable Care Act that would raise drug prices for people with Medicare considerably.
To be clear, it’s not at all likely that this whacky idea has legs or would offer meaningful help. Trump is talking about giving away $200 “Trump cards” in order to try to get older Americans to support his candidacy for re-election. It’s his latest attempt to show he cares about them. But, his actions speak louder than his words, and his actions hurt older adults substantially.
President Trump probably would need to take money from the Medicare Trust Fund to pay the $6.6 billion cost of this discount card idea. His authority to do so is questionable at best. He wants to use the Medicare waiver program, which requires that money spent on a new health care “innovation” come from health care savings. Trump claims savings from a proposed executive order to test pricing drugs for people with Medicare at the average of what other countries pay. Since that order is far from being implemented and will likely be challenged by the pharmaceutical industry, there are no savings.
Pharma has no idea what Trump is trying to do. And, even Pharma does not believe these $200 Trump discount cards will be of much help to older people in getting their medicines. The biggest winner would likely be the pharmaceutical companies, as many older adults would use the cards to fill prescriptions they might otherwise leave unfilled.
And, if the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act, as President Trump would like, older adults with Medicare Part D will be big losers. Their drug costs would rise significantly.
Here’s more from Just Care:
