In a move critics say is designed to shield the Biden-Harris administration from election fallout, the administration was discovered this year to have leveraged taxpayer funds to mask upcoming increases in Medicare premiums.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was intended to cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, insurers are poised to significantly hike monthly premiums, with average bids for Part D plans expected to triple by 2025.
In response to potential voter backlash, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a three-year “demonstration project” to subsidize these premiums, aiming to keep them artificially low. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a fiscal analysis of the Biden-Harris administration’s Medicare Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration Program this week, estimating it could cost taxpayers over $21 billion over three years.