The AARP is warning lawmakers not to roll back a change to Medicare that forces drug companies to pay more for seniors’ drug costs.
The senior citizen lobbying group issued a warning Wednesday to lawmakers who are seeking to revisit a decision Congress made in March to force drugmakers to offer a stiffer discount for some Medicare seniors. More than 200 Republican and Democratic representatives have indicated they’re open to undoing the reform.
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“Unfortunately, there are continuing efforts to undo the reforms included in the [Bipartisan Budget Act] and increase drug costs for older Americans,” the letter from AARP said.
Back in March, the spending deal included a change to the “donut hole” for Medicare Part D, the program’s prescription drug plan. After a senior and their drug plan spend a certain amount of money on prescription drugs on Medicare Part D, the senior falls into a coverage gap, the donut hole, in which they have to solely cover the cost of prescription drugs.
The senior can get out of the donut hole after they spend a certain amount on prescription drugs, but AARP has long complained that it causes major financial strife for seniors.
The spending deal ended the donut hole a year earlier in 2019 instead of 2020. Congress also required drug companies to give a higher discount for costs for seniors in the donut hole.
Normally a drugmaker must pay 50 percent of the cost for a drug while a senior is in the donut hole. But the March spending deal increased that figure to 70 percent.
The pharmaceutical lobby has been trying fervently to roll back the increase ever since the spending deal got signed into law in March, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
The Bipartisan Budget Act funds the government through September, meaning that the pharmaceutical lobby will have a chance to roll back the change in the next spending deal.
“As drug prices continue to increase, it is imperative that we keep in place policies that will help to lower drug costs for beneficiaries and make it easier for them to access the medications they rely on,” the letter said.
