Among the jokes in Washington is that the Vice President really only has two responsibilities. The first is to ask how the President is doing that day. The second is to break ties. The first job doesn’t apply anymore since the Democrat party uninstalled Biden and installed (Vice) President Kanala Harris. She really shouldn’t be bragging about the second job when her vote broke the tie to install the Inflation Reduction Act.
Kamala now owns it
Even Democrat friendly outlets have said the Act has had no impact on inflation, if anything it’s worse. Inflation has tripled under Biden and it’s higher than it ever was in either the Trump or Obama administration.
Americans can see it. Gas, groceries, everything is more expensive with Biden. But the worst impact has been on seniors.
The Medicare part D premiums spiked. The IRA re-wrote it. It’s no longer under market control. Now it’s command-and-control with Washington bureaucrats setting the prices.
Kamala has had time
Fifty million American seniors on this had their premiums spike over 20% this year and it’s expect to increase by almost 50% next year. The administration is trying to make this look a little better in time for the election by a taxpayer bailout to cover up the increases.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or CMS is implementing a “premium stabilization” for stand-alone prescription drug plans. The Paragon Health Institute put out a great report on it.
The Wall Street Journal sees the drug rationing, called it “a back-door way for Democrats to ration access to costly drugs.” The CMS isn’t doing its job, probably to keep the Democrats from looking bad.
Democrats pushing Kamala
The Wall Street Journal continued with, “CMS’s intervention is another example of how the IRA will cost far more than Democrats claimed. Nobody knows how much more since CMS isn’t doing a normal rule-making that requires a cost analysis.”
In that vacuum, Republicans have asked the Congressional Budget Office or CBO to do one. They had asked for an explanation of the CMS bailout.
“Because of Democrats’ rushed, partisan policymaking in the IRA, America’s seniors now face skyrocketing premiums for prescription drug coverage next year. This will constrict their choices when making health coverage decisions for next year. To cover up rising premiums ahead of November, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a new demonstration program, which will buy down premium increases by sending billions of taxpayer dollars directly to large insurance companies.”
