Americans Increasingly Dependent On Government Aid, Research Shows
An exclusive Wall Street Journal report shows how government support is taking an evermore central role in many Americans' lives, with programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid at the core. Separately, CMS said Medicare Part D and Advantage premiums will decline next year.
Americans鈥 reliance on government support is soaring, driven by programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That support is especially critical in economically stressed communities throughout the U.S., many of which lean Republican and are concentrated in swing states crucial in deciding the presidential election. Neither party has much incentive to dial back the spending. The country hasn鈥檛 always been this reliant on government support. In 1970, government safety-net money accounted for significant income in fewer than 1% of America's counties, new research by the bipartisan think tank Economic Innovation Group finds. (Zitner, Kamp and McGill, 9/30)
Average premiums and benefits for Medicare's prescription drug program and private Medicare plans are projected to remain stable in 2025 with premiums slightly declining, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said on Friday. The premiums are of interest to consumers enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans run by private insurers who are then paid by the government, and the health plans themselves, who set premiums and benefits based on the reimbursement rates. (Aboulenein, 9/27)
The Biden administration on Friday announced that next year older Americans would face lower average monthly premiums for their prescription drugs, a feat achieved by pouring billions of dollars into subsidies for insurers. The move avoided a potential minefield of higher costs affecting the nation鈥檚 most stalwart voters weeks before the presidential election. In a savvy response to the specter of huge spikes in costs, administration officials decided months ago to funnel money from a Medicare trust fund to offset rate increases that could have cost millions of people hundreds of dollars more a year. (Robbins and Abelson, 9/27)
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News:
The Medicare Advantage Influence Machine
Federal officials resolved more than a decade ago to crack down on whopping government overpayments to private Medicare Advantage health insurance plans, which were siphoning off billions of tax dollars every year. But Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials have yet to demand any refunds 鈥 and over the years the private insurance plans have morphed into a politically potent juggernaut that has signed up more than 33 million seniors and is aggressively lobbying to stave off cuts. (Schulte and Hacker, 9/30)
In related news 鈥
One day before Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) face off in the vice presidential debate, the Harris-Walz campaign has released a more than 40-page long report attacking the Trump-Vance health care plan, which the campaign says will 鈥渆liminate health insurance and raise costs for tens of millions of Americans.鈥澛犫淎fter nearly a decade of endlessly promising to reveal his health care plan, Donald Trump claims he only has 鈥榗oncepts of a plan.鈥 The truth is he does have a plan鈥攈e just doesn鈥檛 want voters to know about it,鈥 the Harris-Walz campaign writes in the report.聽聽(Roy, 9/30)
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News:
Journalists Weigh In On Racial Trauma, Medicaid Expansion, And Opioid Settlements
杨贵妃传媒視頻 Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances. (9/28)