Medicare coverage could expand under a Biden presidency

[Rogue Valley]

Medicare coverage could expand under a Biden presidency

Presidential candidate Joe Biden wants to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 60 from 65.

Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.

8/22/20
Health insurance for the nation’s older population could undergo some changes if Joe Biden wins the presidential election in November. The Democrat nominee wants to expand both Medicare coverage and eligibility for the program, as well as ease costs for prescription drugs. Biden wants to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 60 from 65, with optional enrollment in that 5-year period. The funding for this change would come from general revenue. The cost is an estimated $200 billion over a decade, said Marc Goldwein, senior vice president of policy at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. However, he said, the price tag could be much lower. “My gut is that’s a high-end estimate,” Goldwein said. “Health-care coverage is pretty high already in that age group.” He also pointed out that Biden wants to create a public health insurance option and expand access to coverage through the health-care exchanges. Those options could end up being better for those folks than Medicare, he said. Separately, Biden wants Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing, all of which are currently excluded. Biden also wants to reduce what Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs, notably by allowing the government to negotiate those prices — which is prohibited by law currently. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated such a move would save $456 billion from 2023 through 2029 (based on a House bill that would make the change). Biden also would prohibit most drug prices from rising faster than inflation.

Quite different from the Trump administration, which is endeavoring to make Medicare coverage more expensive and limit state Medicare expansion.

Trump issued an Executive Order last week which ends the payroll deductions (until the end of the year) which fund Social Security and Medicare.

If reelected, Trump said he intends to permanently defund Social Security and Medicare, killing the programs.

 

[eman623]

How does Biden plan to pay for the expansion?

 

[Chomsky]

Medicare coverage could expand under a Biden presidency

Presidential candidate Joe Biden wants to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 60 from 65.

Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden.



Quite different from the Trump administration, which is endeavoring to make Medicare coverage more expensive and limit state Medicare expansion.

Trump issued an Executive Order last week which ends the payroll deductions (until the end of the year) which fund Social Security and Medicare.

If reelected, Trump said he intends to permanently defund Social Security and Medicare, killing the programs.

The key here is to get both Oval Office & Senate, then kill the Senate filibuster. I'm already convinced the filibuster is done. There's a myriad of scenarios come 4 NOV, and all lead to the filibuster going bye-bye.

 

[Rogue Valley]

The key here is to get both Oval Office & Senate, then kill the Senate filibuster. I'm already convinced the filibuster is done. There's a myriad of scenarios come 4 NOV, and all lead to the filibuster going bye-bye.

I agree. If Joe Biden captures the White House and the Senate is flipped, the filibuster is finished.

The House did away with it in the mid-1800's. It was used extensively in the 1960's Senate to curtail civil rights legislation.