Why older adults and taxpayers are paying for Democrats’ lies

OPINION:

As we enter another election season, older Americans on fixed incomes are rightfully front and center in the debate over how Congress should reduce their Medicare costs. In 2022, older adults were sold a two-faced image of the future in the Inflation Reduction Act. While older people were promised lower drug costs and premiums, they have seen nothing but higher costs and rising drug prices thanks to Democrats’ deceitful tactics.

In our heated debate over this legislation, House Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration repeatedly ignored Republicans’ calls for changes to the bill to prevent this program from sending premiums sky-high. Despite my and other House Republicans’ best efforts, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris went ahead with their one-size-fits-all policies to “lower drug prices.”

Two years after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, older Americans are still struggling, and it’s gotten worse. They are paying more now for fewer options than they had before the law was enacted. Today, only half as many Part D plans are available for older adults to choose from as when the program was launched in 2006, and 100 fewer plans this year than last year. The number of Medicare Part D plans is expected to be even smaller in 2025. And in October, millions of older adults will sign up for their 2025 Medicare plan to see fewer options at the pharmacy counter.

Worse, premiums have rapidly gone up. In 2020, Part D monthly premiums had actually gone down to $3. Since Mr. Biden took office in 2021, however, Part D premiums have increased by 57%, with more on the way.

Ms. Harris and the Democrats’ decisions, unfortunately, have real-world consequences. This year, older Americans saw premium increases of 21%, including up to a 57% increase in California, Ms. Harris’ home state. In 2025, premiums are expected to increase by at least 50%. For those on a fixed income, paying significantly more isn’t possible and can be the difference between rationing critical medication and putting food on the table.

Recognizing the political fallout from such a sharp premium increase, the Biden-Harris administration announced a test program that will funnel billions of taxpayer dollars to insurance companies to buy down the premium increase. This temporary fix will lead only to further price instability for a price-conscious population on fixed monthly budgets, especially at the expiration of the demonstration program in three years.

To be clear, House Republicans agree that prescription drug prices are too steep and more work is necessary to put the most transformative therapies within Americans’ reach. That’s why we offered a bipartisan alternative that would have provided more help to more Medicare beneficiaries while capping annual out-of-pocket costs at a more reasonable $3,100.

This would have kept premiums in check while delivering better long-term value to older adults without sacrificing future cures, as we repeatedly warned would happen because of the Inflation Reduction Act, and this has already proved true.

Democrats rejected our offer, arguing that forced price controls on drugs would more than offset any premium increases. The reality is that the Inflation Reduction Act is seriously misguided public policy. What was pitched to the American people as the solution to high drug costs is raising the cost of coverage, limiting access to care and needed medications and forcing taxpayers to pay more.

It’s time for Republicans and Democrats to come together and address the failings of the Inflation Reduction Act, find real solutions to the drivers of health costs and protect older Americans to ensure they continue to receive the level of care they were promised.

• Brett Guthrie represents Kentucky’s 2nd Congressional District. He is the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee.