Trump’s Drug Plan Backfires on Some of the Sickest Americans

From the House Democratic Leader's Press Office

Prescription drug costs continue to rise under President Trump's Administration, despite his many promises to bring drug prices 'back down to earth.'

And even worse, the New York Times reports that under the President's so-called plan to lower drug prices he unveiled last month, the sickest patients could actually see their out-of-pocket drug costs increase:

When President Trump unveiled his plan to lower prescription drug prices in a Rose Garden speech last month, he said he would inject more competition into the market by bolstering negotiating powers under Medicare. But experts analyzing the plan warn of a possible side effect: The proposal could significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for some of the sickest people on Medicare.

At the heart of the president's plan is a proposal to switch some expensive drugs from one part of Medicare to another part -- moving them from Part B, the medical benefit created in the original 1965 Medicare law, to Part D, the outpatient drug benefit added by Congress in 2003.

...

"People may see a lot higher out-of-pocket costs if a drug moves from Part B to Part D," said David M. Certner, the legislative policy director of AARP.

...

Another potential problem is that nine million Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in Part B do not have drug coverage under Part D. The White House has not said how their drug bills would be paid.

This on top of the fact that Republicans passed a GOP tax scam - handing multi-billion dollar windfalls to the pharmaceutical companies hiking drug prices on seniors and sick families, and waging a GOP sabotage campaign that will needlessly cause a more than 16 percent premium hike in 2019 in the individual health insurance market, making it even harder for families to afford the prescription drugs they need.

The relentless Republican assault on families' health care is a raw deal for the American people. Democrats are fighting for A Better Deal to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs, calling for tough new enforcement of drug price gouging, allowing Medicare Part D to negotiate drug prices and transparency of excessive drug price increases.