It isn't all about the climate

[Dave Grubb]

The pending "climate change" bill is broad and reaches far beyond climate issues.

Here are some of the health care provisions:

It allows Medicare officials to negotiate over drug costs, giving companies less freedom to set high prices. That measure will mostly reduce Medicare’s spending, rather than families’ out-of-pocket costs — and, by extension, will reduce the federal budget deficit. But there will probably be spillover into out-of-pocket costs, especially for people in Medicare.

The bill sets a $2,000 annual cap on the amount of money that any senior pays for drugs. After somebody hits that cap, a combination of the federal government, private insurers and drug companies will pay the remaining bills. Today, drugs for cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and some other diseases can cost people much more than $2,000 a year. The new provision will take effect in 2025 and will save a small percentage of older Americans thousands of dollars a year.

The bill caps out-of-pocket insulin expenses at $35 a month for people in Medicare; many now pay more than $50 a month. The bill also makes adult vaccines free for both seniors and people in Medicaid, starting next year. The shingles vaccine, to take one example, now often costs more than $50.

For middle- and lower-income people who buy private health-insurance plans through the Obamacare exchanges, federal subsidies will increase for three years. This change will help about 13 million people. A typical person in this situation now pays about $80 a month in premiums, thanks to temporary funding from Biden’s Covid relief bill. The price was set nearly to double next year but now will remain roughly the same, according to Krutika Amin of Kaiser.

My biggest concern with any of that is the time interval until they kick in Those will be big deals to many seniors

[UTAH]

...will be big deals to many seniors...

And once seniors get that healthcare support, they will not let it go away. At this point in our history, seniors wield significant voting power, which continues to increase.

Hunter

[Honda]

I ran the numbers it's insignificant. Maybe just a little help out of the donut hole. That's all.

[Dave Grubb]

I ran the numbers it's insignificant. Maybe just a little help out of the donut hole. That's all.

Maybe that is the case for you, and be thankful for that---but it will not be the case for many that will benefit.

I know there are many seniors who will benefit from a $2,000 annual cap and that is just one example.

[Truckman]

Maybe that is the case for you, and be thankful for that---but it will not be the case for many that will benefit.

I know there are many seniors who will benefit from a $2,000 annual cap and that is just one example.

I'm sure there are many who will benefit...Thanks to a doctor who knows how to hunt for low cost meds to increase survival chances for his patients, I don't pay that much now...My insulin has cost me $25 a bottle for as long as I can remember...Only Walton family owned pharmacies sell it that low; all others are as much as 5 times that...I recently was able to reduce the amount of insulin I inject twice a day by about half because my doctor stays on top of new offerings from manufacturers...Earlier this year he told me about Glyxambi which currently costs about $600 for a 30 day supply, for which he had some salesman's samples...

I got an immediate result even the day I started taking them from his supply of samples...My blood sugar, which I test three times a day, dropped dramatically, to the point I had to reduce the amount of insulin I was taking to prevent any low-glucose events, something which can be more dangerous to a diabetic than high glucose...On discussing this with my doctor, who knows I don't have the kind of income to afford either new drugs or drug insurance, he said not to worry, he can get samples to give me although it takes extra visits to his office to get them...He doesn't even charge me for the visits, I just get to pay for the diesel to drive 80 miles round trip...

That was a Godsend to me as my glucose levels had been steadily increasing in recent times...Even the extra trips are offset by the reduced amount of insulin I now pay for...For those who don't know, a prescription is not needed to buy insulin...I walk in to WalMart and buy it over the counter...At any rate it's good to see Congress finally doing something that actually helps the American people, although I'm sure it comes with hidden costs that will surface in time......Ben

[Kevin]

I did not know the extent of your medical issues, Ben. I am very sorry that you have to balance taking insulin to stay alive with having enough money to have a life beyond insulin.

I don't know anything about the issue so I'm asking - I recall that a plan to cap insulin costs to consumers at $35 a month was shot down this month in Congress. Would this have benefited you or was it some sort of boondoggle like so much of what comes out of Congress?

[Truckman]

I recall that a plan to cap insulin costs to consumers at $35 a month was shot down this month in Congress. Would this have benefited you or was it some sort of boondoggle like so much of what comes out of Congress?

That's approximately what I pay now factoring in the reduced amounts I'm taking...I have all my costs of living adjusted to the point where I pay all my bills with my single source of income, Social Security...It doesn't leave much room for other activities such as improving my S&W accumulation, but so far, thanks mostly to trading and pricing skills learned in a previous life, that pretty much pays for itself......Ben

[Dave Grubb]

This, from my PA news agrigator this morning may help clarify that Kevin:

A sweeping $740 billion tax, climate, and health care bill passed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate on Sunday could lead to cheaper medications for Pennsylvanians if it's passed by the U.S. House and signed into law.

In a piece focused on the health care implications of The Inflation Reduction Act, the Post-Gazette examines the drug-pricing details:
• The bill would cap insulin costs at $35 monthly for Medicare enrollees.
• It would continue enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, "a measure that could matter to the roughly 400,000 Pennsylvanians who are covered through the state's health insurance marketplace," the Post-Gazette explains.
• Out-of-pocket drug spending by Medicare recipients would be capped at $2,000 annually; there is no cap now. Medicare would also be allowed to negotiate drug prices for "10 high-cost and biologic Medicare Part D drugs," a move that's expected to translate to consumer savings.
• Also included: A measure to permanently extend an excise tax on domestic coal that funds health benefits and stipends for miners with black lung disease or the spouses who are left behind.

[UTAH]

Wifey's Father was a coal miner and a mining engineer. He died of lung cancer/black lung disease right after retiring. It always seemed so ironic/sad to me that he survived so many cave-ins and other mining accidents only to be felled physically. He was a good man. And, he would be pleased that there're safer ways to handle coal now.

Hunter