{"id":1560454,"date":"2022-07-19T07:50:38","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T11:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1560454"},"modified":"2022-07-19T07:50:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T11:50:45","slug":"democrats-plan-to-snatch-medicare-dollars-from-seniors-to-subsidize-their-rich-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-plan-to-snatch-medicare-dollars-from-seniors-to-subsidize-their-rich-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Plan To Snatch Medicare Dollars From Seniors To Subsidize Their Rich Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-plan-to-snatch-medicare-dollars-from-seniors-to-subsidize-their-rich-friends%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1560454&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/52125368722_ae26b77481_b.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>You really can\u2019t make this stuff up. After Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/07\/14\/manchin-rejects-climate-tax-elements-of-party-line-dem-bill-00046018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opposed<\/a> a massive new tax-and-spending bill, how did Democrats respond? Beyond <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/15\/climate\/manchin-climate-change-democrats.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">throwing bile at Manchin<\/a> for nixing the latest version of Build Back Better, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/07\/15\/biden-manchin-senate-00046144\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reporters<\/a> said that \u201cDemocrats\u2019 remaining best-case scenario is passing drug price reforms and a temporary extension of enhanced Obamacare subsidies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Translation: A dozen years after Democrats raided Medicare to pay for Obamacare, lawmakers want to go back to the well again, plucking money from seniors to fund an extension of Obamacare insurance <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/how-democrats-covid-bill-gives-welfare-to-the-wealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">subsidies to the wealthy<\/a>. It sounds like a line from a <em>Democratic<\/em> attack ad against <em>Republicans<\/em> \u2014 but it\u2019s what Democrats want to ram through Congress in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n<h2>Fewer Innovative Drugs<\/h2>\n<p>The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files?file=2022-07\/senSubtitle1_Finance.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">analysis<\/a> of Democrats\u2019 updated drug pricing legislation. According to CBO, the revised language will save a total of $287.6 billion in the coming decade. Nearly half of the supposed \u201csavings,\u201d or $122.1 billion, comes from repealing a rule the Trump administration proposed in its waning days and that has never gone into effect \u2014 a budget gimmick <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/11\/15\/6-ridiculous-budget-gimmicks-in-house-democrats-build-back-bankrupt-spending-spree\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">included in prior versions<\/a> of Build Back Better.<\/p>\n<p>But the remaining $165 billion or so in Medicare reductions would come from imposing price controls on pharmaceutical companies, accompanied by a 95 percent tax (no, that\u2019s not a typo) on those companies who fail to \u201cnegotiate.\u201d CBO admitted in its updated analysis that the bill would lead to the introduction of fewer new prescription drugs in its first decade, and in decades to come after that.<\/p>\n<h2>Welfare for the Wealthy<\/h2>\n<p>Where would some of that money taken out of Medicare go? To extending the \u201ctemporary\u201d increase in Obamacare subsidies included in last year\u2019s \u201cCovid relief\u201d measure. But CBO previously admitted that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2021-02\/hwaysandmeansreconciliation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">most of the spending<\/a> on these subsidies will go to people who already had health insurance, in no small part because wealthy individuals will now qualify for welfare assistance.<\/p>\n<p>Obamacare itself limited eligibility for subsidies to families with incomes below four times the <a href=\"https:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/topics\/poverty-economic-mobility\/poverty-guidelines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">federal poverty level<\/a>, or $111,000 for a family of four in 2022. But last year\u2019s \u201cCovid relief\u201d measure eliminated that cap. As a result, some families, particularly those nearing retirement age and\/or in rural areas with little competition among insurance plans, will qualify for subsidies with <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/how-democrats-covid-bill-gives-welfare-to-the-wealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">significantly higher incomes<\/a>. In fact, some families making more than $400,000 \u2014 families whose taxes Biden wants to increase \u2014 could qualify for this expanded Obamacare welfare program.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Where\u2019s Yogi Berra?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>For people who work in health policy, Democrats raiding Medicare to pay for Obamacare insurance subsidies represents a case of <em>d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/em>. In 2010, Kathleen Sebelius, then the secretary of Health and Human Services, tried to explain how the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2012\/08\/14\/romneys-right-obamacare-cuts-medicare-by-716-billion-heres-how\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$718 billion Democrats raided from Medicare<\/a> could simultaneously pay for that program as well as Obamacare:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"dJmujx7bMZggGfpl4WTbPupmXkZvofcyqt2NKSW2q0rdoLCC6jwHVDPsac3nFvzDwMSiUe3\"><\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Unfortunately, Democrats view Medicare as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/democrats-use-medicare-as-a-piggy-bank-11616624520\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">piggy bank\/slush fund<\/a> they can raid whenever they like to pay for their other socialist dreams. Recall that the single-payer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/116\/bills\/s1129\/BILLS-116s1129is.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">system proposed<\/a> by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would <em>abolish<\/em> the current Medicare program, making the legislation \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/sanders-proposes-medicare-for-none-1516233970\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Medicare for None<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019d think an octogenarian president would take mercy on his fellow seniors, but that\u2019s not Biden\u2019s way. In fact, after leaving the vice presidency in early 2017, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/09\/23\/biden-could-owe-as-much-as-500k-in-irs-taxes-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cheated on his Medicare taxes<\/a>, even as he spent a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/05\/06\/joe-biden-dodged-half-a-million-in-taxes-and-he-wants-you-to-pay-your-fair-share\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">small fortune<\/a> renting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zillow.com\/homedetails\/626-Chain-Bridge-Rd-Mc-Lean-VA-22101\/51759106_zpid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this mansion outside Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Neglecting seniors and raiding Medicare to enrich themselves and their wealthy friends \u2014 that\u2019s today\u2019s Democratic Party.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group, and author of the book, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/chrisjacobshc\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>. Previously he was a senior health policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a senior policy analyst in The Heritage Foundation\u2019s Center for Health Policy Studies, and a senior policy analyst with the Joint Economic Committee\u2019s Senate Republican staff. During the debate over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, Jacobs was a policy adviser for the House Republican Conference under then-Chairman Mike Pence. In the first two years of the law\u2019s implementation, he was a health policy analyst for the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Jacobs got his start on Capitol Hill as an intern for then-Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science and history from American University, where he is a part-time teacher of health policy. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You really can\u2019t make this stuff up. After Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he opposed a massive new tax-and-spending bill, how did Democrats respond? Beyond throwing bile at Manchin for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1560454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1560454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1560454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1560454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1560454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}