THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND HEALTH INSURANCE - PART II
Picking up from last week, here are a few additional noteworthy provisions of the IRA:
- Beginning 1/1/2023, insulin co-pays for Medicare beneficiaries will be capped at $35/month.
- Also starting 1/1/’23, Medicare will begin “negotiating” the price of certain drugs. It’s unclear – to me, anyway – just which drugs? Perhaps just as unclear; what happens when you squeeze one end of the Pharma
balloon?
- Designed to keep premiums in check, health insurance policies include deductibles, co-insurance, etc. In that vein, Medicare Part D (drug) Plans currently have an annual out of pocket maximum of $7,050. The IRA cap will be
'just' $2,000 beginning January 1, 2024; a huge win for 1.4 million seniors who hit the max. (Not to mention our Customer Service Department, since seemingly we insure most them!) To be determined; what will happen to premiums for the 50 million Medicare beneficiaries
covered by Part D Plans, which now average $33.37/month? (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)
Apologies for what can only be jaded expectations. Like the ACA, was the IRA passed so ‘they’ could “learn what’s in it?”
We won’t know for at least a couple of years.
That means Tip # 920 should be interesting.
