Card #3: Healthcare

What’s at Stake for You in Election 2024?
Healthcare in America

The Affordable Care Act and Medicare/Medicaid – Biden

The Biden-Harris team supports the ACA, the comprehensive healthcare reform law enacted in March 2010. Its primary goals:

• Make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (premium tax credits) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). This credit expires in 2025. President Biden promises to make this tax credit permanent.
• Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the FPL. Currently, only 38 states offer expanded Medicaid programs.
• As of March 2024, 45 million Americans are enrolled in coverage related to the ACA, the highest total on record. Also, 151 million Americans are enrolled in a Medicare or Medicaid plan. 196 million Americans equals 59% of the population.

The Cost of Prescription Drugs in America

American prescription drug costs totaled $378 billion in 2021, accounting for nearly 9 percent of healthcare costs. President Biden
got insulin manufacturers to cap the monthly cost at $35 for most patients, including the uninsured. Medicare is currently negotiating reduced prices on more drugs, saving taxpayers $160 billion. Biden wants Medicare to have the power to negotiate lower prices on another 500 drugs over the next decade, saving an additional $200 billion.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 capped out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors at $2,000/yr. starting in 2025. Biden proposes to extend that cap to all Americans.

The Affordable Care Act and Medicare/Medicaid – Trump

March 18, 2024: “Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is zeroing in on one familiar campaign promise: He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In the months since Trump first reignited calls to “terminate” the ACA, he has repeated his public attacks at least seven times. Once again, we are facing a grave threat to American health care and to millions of families’ financial security.”

Feb 21, 2024 (summarized for brevity): In the lead-up to the 2024 election, top Republican contender Donald Trump might have some work to do when it comes to his healthcare policies. In a new report from health policy research group Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF.org), only 35 percent of Trump’s Republican supporters believe Trump has a healthcare plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.

The Cost of Prescription Drugs in America

The Trump administration took steps to reduce the price of prescription drugs for consumers when Mr. Trump signed measures allowing pharmacists to tell patients when the cash price of a drug is lower than the cost of insurance.

If Donald Trump returns to the White House, he could negotiate Medicare prices for drugs. Why it matters: Mr. Trump first ran for
president in 2016 vowing to negotiate prescription drug prices, though he later abandoned that pledge. If re-elected, The Inflation Reduction Act passed under President Biden would require Mr. Trump’s administration to negotiate Medicare prices for some drugs. Former Trump officials expect he would use executive power to modify the government’s ability to negotiate.