Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee who started campaigning less than a month ago, has yet to fully flesh out her economic agenda and what she envisions for Medicare. Yet, experts say her past viewpoints and stances — like”Medicare for All” — indicate that a Harris win could have wide-ranging money-saving implications for the program.
Some experts — like Josh Thompson, CEO of Impact Health USA — said Harris’ history indicates an inclination toward expanding government influence and implementing healthcare policies with undertones that could jeopardize Americans’ healthcare freedom.
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Others think she would continue President Biden’s policies, including lower prices of drugs through Medicare.
On Aug. 15, the Biden administration announced 10 prescription drugs would have lower prices thanks to negotiated prices with Medicare — and Harris could continue to build on these initiatives.
These new prices will be lower by 38% to 79%, according to a White House fact sheet, and 9 million people with Medicare use at least one of the 10 drugs selected for negotiation, according to the Department of Health.
Here is what a Harris win could mean for Medicare, according to experts.
Medicare for All
In 2019, Harris supported the Medicare for All Act along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, which was an attempt to expand Medicare coverage for all Americans.
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Ann Marie Buerkle, former New York Republican congresswoman, former U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) chairwoman and former nurse, argued that as Harris supported this bill, “She will attack private industry’s role in our healthcare system everywhere she can.”
Harris’ campaign recently said she will not push for government-run healthcare and will attempt to solve the cost problem in other ways, including the price negotiation mentioned above.
She Might Pursue Her 2019 Plan
Peter C. Earle, the senior economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, argued that while Harris has sought to distance herself from policies she championed in her 2019 campaign, it’s difficult to imagine that her policy sketches would be substantially different now.
“She is seeking both to appeal to a progressive base and present herself as a figure who will build upon and further Biden administration policies,” he said.
Keep a Role for Private Insurers
As CNN reported, last election cycle, Harris’ “proposal kept a role for private insurance companies within the healthcare system – a significant departure from Sanders’ Medicare for All bill.”
This plan would transition to a Medicare for All-type system over 10 years, rather than the four years advocated by Sanders.
“The Harris plan would have expanded the existing Medicare system, which consists of the traditional Medicare program but also provides a private insurance option called Medicare Advantage,” according to CNN.
Earle noted that this healthcare plan would maintain a role for private insurers, allowing them to offer plans within a tightly regulated framework similar to the current Medicare Advantage system.
“For senior citizens, it means that they would still have access to private insurance options under Medicare – for now,” he said.
He noted, however, that as her plan proposes a gradual transition to Medicare for all over 10 years, some older Americans might find themselves caught on one or the other side of that transition at a point in their lives when they may be consuming more healthcare than they ever did previously.
The Cost of Insurance
Earle also noted that Harris’ plan stipulated that every American would have insurance coverage and would pay significantly lower out-of-pocket costs, with an annual cap of $200.
On one hand, he said, for senior citizens, this would mean much lower personal expenses for healthcare services.
On the other hand, the tradeoffs of that sort of coverage would be higher taxes and potential limitations on the availability of certain high-cost treatments or services due to cost controls, he added.
He suggested this would lead to the rationing of healthcare resources, the denial of certain life-prolonging treatments or procedures to individuals over a certain age and individuals with chronic health conditions, and a declining emphasis on experimental medicine, depending on the cost.
“Two economic warnings about radical healthcare reform,” he said. “First, any plan that sounds too good to be true almost certainly is. Second: Goods or services without prices are not — I repeat — not without costs.”
Building Upon Biden’s Initiatives
The Hill noted that “Harris will be able to claim ownership of Biden’s health wins — like a $35 insulin cap, Medicare drug price negotiations and an out-of-pocket cap on Medicare drug coverage — while also being a much stronger messenger than Biden has been.”
In turn, the Aug. 15 announcement of the 10 drugs that have Medicare-negotiated prices could be a harbinger of Harris’ direction and plans.
“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering on its promise to lower out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors and save money for Americans,” according to the White House statement. “That’s because Medicare has the power to negotiate prescription drug prices for the first time in history thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by President Biden with Vice President Harris casting the tiebreaking vote.”
Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. For more coverage on this topic, please check out 6 Things That Could Happen to Medicare if Trump Wins the 2024 Election.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Things That Could Happen to Medicare If Vice President Harris Wins
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