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Well love this....ABC just reported that the drug savings and other parts of this awesome bill POTUS
just signed won’t actually kick in until AFTER the midterms !!!!!!!
14 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Prescription Drug Price Reforms Won’t Happen for Years
Democrats continue to not learn the lesson that they shouldn’t pass a policy in 2022 that doesn’t kick in until 2026.
https://prospect.org/health/prescription-drug-price-reforms-wont-happen-for-years/
snip
However, that benefit is fragile, especially if what’s being touted as progress doesn’t pan out or isn’t immediately visible to the public. That’s what’s so confounding about the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug reforms. The two major pieces that offer the most impact to seniors not only don’t take effect before this national election, but not even before the next one. There doesn’t seem to be any credible reason for this delay, other than as a favor to the pharmaceutical lobby. But it’s potentially debilitating to Democrats’ political fortunes, as they are overpromising relief for seniors that won’t materialize for years and years.
The two biggest benefits for seniors in the IRA are the Medicare negotiation of certain high-cost prescription drugs, and the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap. But while price negotiations technically start next year, no consumer will see the benefit until the new prices begin in 2026, and even then on only 10 drugs (another 15 are added in 2027 and 2028, rising to 20 by 2029 and subsequent years).
You could squint and maybe understand the need for a little delay in setting up a negotiation regime. There are some parameters to set up, like the benchmarks for prices and the penalties if drug companies refuse to deal. Maybe you have to train negotiators. But none of that can possibly explain the three-year delay between the beginning of negotiation and the realization of price discounts for seniors. To be crass, it means that substantial numbers of seniors living now will not be alive when the reduction in certain prescription drug prices is realized.
The $2,000 out-of-pocket cap, which is across the board for all seniors, not just on certain drugs, is even worse. That cap doesn’t go into effect until 2025, although out-of-pocket costs get capped at $4,000 in 2024. If there is kind of an explanation for delays in setting up Medicare drug price negotiation, for the out-of-pocket cap there is not. You literally tally up patient out-of-pocket costs, which are fully transparent, until they hit $2,000, and then stop them. Why does this take more than two years to pull off? Medicare itself, the entire program, took only a year to implement.
snip
Democrats continue to not learn the lesson that they shouldn’t pass a policy in 2022 that doesn’t kick in until 2026.
https://prospect.org/health/prescription-drug-price-reforms-wont-happen-for-years/
snip
However, that benefit is fragile, especially if what’s being touted as progress doesn’t pan out or isn’t immediately visible to the public. That’s what’s so confounding about the Inflation Reduction Act’s prescription drug reforms. The two major pieces that offer the most impact to seniors not only don’t take effect before this national election, but not even before the next one. There doesn’t seem to be any credible reason for this delay, other than as a favor to the pharmaceutical lobby. But it’s potentially debilitating to Democrats’ political fortunes, as they are overpromising relief for seniors that won’t materialize for years and years.
The two biggest benefits for seniors in the IRA are the Medicare negotiation of certain high-cost prescription drugs, and the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap. But while price negotiations technically start next year, no consumer will see the benefit until the new prices begin in 2026, and even then on only 10 drugs (another 15 are added in 2027 and 2028, rising to 20 by 2029 and subsequent years).
You could squint and maybe understand the need for a little delay in setting up a negotiation regime. There are some parameters to set up, like the benchmarks for prices and the penalties if drug companies refuse to deal. Maybe you have to train negotiators. But none of that can possibly explain the three-year delay between the beginning of negotiation and the realization of price discounts for seniors. To be crass, it means that substantial numbers of seniors living now will not be alive when the reduction in certain prescription drug prices is realized.
The $2,000 out-of-pocket cap, which is across the board for all seniors, not just on certain drugs, is even worse. That cap doesn’t go into effect until 2025, although out-of-pocket costs get capped at $4,000 in 2024. If there is kind of an explanation for delays in setting up Medicare drug price negotiation, for the out-of-pocket cap there is not. You literally tally up patient out-of-pocket costs, which are fully transparent, until they hit $2,000, and then stop them. Why does this take more than two years to pull off? Medicare itself, the entire program, took only a year to implement.
snip
