Awful Health Care Ideas in the Reckless Tax and Spend Spree

The reckless tax and spend spree being pushed by Democrats includes a slew of health care proposals that would harm the health care of all Americans. Here are some of the most egregious ideas in the bill:

1. Dictating Drug Prices – Democrats’ tax and spend bill includes a proposal that would dramatically reduce biomedical research, leading to fewer new medications and fewer options for people with rare diseases. It contains provisions to let the secretary of health and human services set prices on certain drugs and punish manufacturers with outrageous penalties – up to 95% of all sales – that would cripple their ability to develop future cures. Experts have warned that the proposal could lead to 135 fewer new drugs over the next two decades.

2. Undermining Medicare – Democrats are eager to expand Medicare to include hearing services. These are already provided through the private plan option, Medicare Advantage, at an affordable price to beneficiaries. Ninety-three percent of MA plans provide hearing benefits, and 42% of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in an MA plan. CBO expects more than half of Medicare enrollees to have an MA plan within the decade. When it comes to quality care and affordability, Medicare Advantage outperforms traditional Medicare in caring for the sickest of enrollees. Congress should focus on addressing the financial standing of the Medicare program and building on MA’s success. Instead, Democrats are determined to make the program more expensive and inefficient. 

3. Expanding Medicaid HCBS – The tax and spend bill includes a plan to expand Medicaid home and community based services for some states. The HCBS program would provide a state option that would condition an increased 6% federal match on compliance with new payment rules and benefit expansions. A state would have to make labor reforms for its direct care workforce, including increasing union participation in Medicaid programs. This prioritizes unions over patients and goes beyond the program’s scope of serving people with low incomes or disabilities. Washington would have more say about how states determine eligibility and enrollment, threatening access to care for the people the program was designed to help.

4. Abandoning the Hyde Amendment – What does the bill not include? The Hyde Amendment ban on taxpayer-funded abortions. This protection has been in place since 1976, through Democratic administrations and Congresses. Democrats have decided now is the time to abandon the protection and require Americans to fund abortions regardless of their personal objections.