Medicare Advantage 101: New policy series explains Medicare Advantage and its role within the Medicare system.
The Medicare Rights Center thanks President Biden for signing—and the House and Senate for passing—the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. This landmark legislation includes policies we have long championed to make health care and prescription drugs more affordable.
Thanks to the IRA:
Critically, the bill also begins to address the drivers of Medicare prescription drug unaffordability by requiring Medicare to negotiate drug prices, penalizing manufacturers for price hikes that outpace inflation, and better-aligning Part D pricing incentives. While the number of beneficiaries who will see lower drug costs in any given year under these provisions, and the magnitude of those savings, will depend on a myriad of to-be-determined factors, these reforms are widely expected to strengthen Medicare and enrollee financial security.
For millions of current and future Medicare beneficiaries the IRA’s consumer protections and structural improvements will be nothing short of lifesaving. Every day on Medicare Rights’ national helpline, we hear from older adults and people with disabilities who are struggling to pay for care. They may go without or may cut back on other basic needs, like food or rent, just to fill a prescription. The IRA will help ensure fewer people face these impossible choices. We applaud these successes and look forward to working with advocates, stakeholders, and policymakers to build upon them.
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