The legislation promised financial relief for millions of people with Medicare by expanding benefits, lowering drug costs, and strengthening Medicare for future seniors.
Medicare Is for Seniors' "Misery Index," as the report is known, says prescription drug costs instead have risen nationally by 31%, leaving seniors with new expenses and fewer options.
The Biden administration's Medicare prescription drug premiums could cost taxpayers more than $21 billion over three years.
The national monthly average cost rose from $47.69 in 2022 to $62.34 in 2025, a 31% increase that will cost seniors an additional $176 annually per individual, according to Mark Merritt, the founder of Medicare Is for Seniors' "Misery Index." Merritt told The Center Square that seniors end up paying the tab with higher monthly Medicare premiums.
In an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal Consitution, Merritt wrote that "Rates for Medicare Prescription Drug Plans have risen four times more than the national rate of inflation since the IRA was enacted. In some battlegrounds, it's risen eight or nine times higher." Georgia seniors will have a monthly premium increase of 59% in 2025, totaling $73.42 compared to $46.05 in 2022.
The Inflation Reduction Act added red tape and government mandates to Medicare Part D, which increased seniors' drug costs, he said.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website says the legislation offers provisions of financial relief for those with Medicare by lowering some drug costs, keeping prescription drug premiums stable, and improving the strength of the Medicare program.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/article_b0b100ea-957c-11ef-ad2c-eba8b2be1119.html
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