White House Reportedly Used Taxpayer Money to Cover Medicare Premium Hikes | NewsRadio 740 KTRH

The Biden-Harris administration is under fire for allegedly using taxpayer money to hide Medicare premium increases ahead of the November election.

This move contradicts a promise made by Vice President Kamala Harris during the campaign. Earlier this month, Harris told AARP that she will “always fight to protect and strengthen Medicare for this and future generations.” The advocacy group Commitment to Seniors said it “didn’t take long for Vice President Harris to break her promise.”

Several other critics now say Harris is going back on her promises to secure the Medicare trust fund. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) has unveiled a three-year “demonstration project” to try to reduce monthly premium increases. According to the latest analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this demonstration project could cost taxpayers over $21 billion over the next three years.

Joel White, Republican strategist, CEO of Horizon Government Affairs and president of the Council for Affordable Health Care Coverage, said this is all due to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed entirely by Democrats and in which Vice President Harris was the tie-breaking vote was.

“It radically rewritten Medicare drug benefits and made them much more expensive,” White says of the Inflation Reduction Act.

This year, premiums have increased by 21% and are expected to rise by another 23% in 2025.

“Seniors are paying much more for their prescription drugs when the Biden-Harris administration said it would lower drug costs,” White added.

With drug prices and premiums rising, government defenders claim the project would provide quick and necessary relief. White said the demonstration was just a ploy by Democrats to get votes from seniors looking for plans.

“That took $7 billion from Medicare and gave it to insurers in the hopes that premiums wouldn’t go up,” White said. “They tried to buy votes right before the election, but they ended up taking a lot more money from taxpayers and then spending it elsewhere.”