The Inflation Reduction Act
The Inflation Reduction Act is supposed to reduce drug costs for all Medicare recipients. While partially true, most Medicare recipients will not save any money.
The facts are quite simple, those with drug costs above $2,000 annually will save money. Meaning if your annual drug costs exceed $2,000, you only pay up to $2,000. This only applies to those approximately 125,000 Medicare recipients whose use of ultra-expensive medications that in total exceeds the $2,000 annual cost.
Those whose drug costs are not above $2000 will not save any money from what I’ve been led to believe. Since Medicare serves more than 65,000.000 people the Inflation Reduction Act only helps 125,000 people. That’s less than .00292% of all Medicare beneficiaries.
We have been led to believe the inflation reduction act would help a significant number of Medicare beneficiaries. This is not a partisan issue but an issue for all Americans regardless of their political beliefs. We have been misled into believing this bill would help all Medicare recipients. I am extremely disappointed because many of my clients are spending less than $2,000 for drugs and this bill will do nothing for them.
Solution
I firmly believe the solution to this unfortunate situation is a Constitutional Amendment forcing Congress and any other group of government employees to be on both Medicare and Social Security. This will put everyone in the same place so any moves by Congress to change or limit either Medicare or Social Security will impact Congress as well.
We all know that Congress would never do anything that harms themselves so this would be good for all Americans. The only way to bypass Congress and get this accomplished is to have the Convention of States pass that resolution. We need 34 states, yet only 19 have passed it while many others have passed in one of the two state legislative bodies.
Unfortunately, Nevada has done nothing in that regard and that needs to change immediately. The Convention of States is the only solution to rein in Congressional abuse and force Congress to participate in the same plans all Americans must use, Medicare and Social Security. These two plans are almost bankrupt and if Congress was on those plans the financial issue would be resolved.
Take Action
It is time Americans stood up and tell Congress to fix both programs’ finances so no one will be harmed and turned away from services because there is no money in the plan. Congress is not on either program and, therefore, has no skin in the game. That is why we need a Constitutional Amendment using the Convention of States to accomplish the task or this will never happen.
My Congress person has no interest in listening or doing anything to alleviate the situation. Any correspondence from my Congress persons comes back with a carefully worded response telling me they will investigate the situation.
This blog started out explaining the problems with the Inflation Reduction Act and has transformed into a need for a Constitutional Convention to fix the problems Congress refuses to address. This is a bi-partisan plea to do something to correct the problem with prescription costs in America. After all, drug prices everywhere else in the world are less expensive than here in the US. We are paying the cost of drugs for the entire world and most Americans are oblivious to the situation. Hopefully, this blog will open some eyes to the real issue and get our representatives to represent us and not just themselves.
I hope this information is useful and if anyone has questions, please contact me via phone or email and I will respond quickly.
Also, take a look at Medicare 2023 Information.
The Barend Agency Inc.
Len Barend, Broker
Cell:702-250-2200
Email: len@insurance4unevada.com