Trump’s Plan To Lower Drug Prices Could Actually Increase Costs

**ICYMI**

 

Experts warn that instead of lowering drug prices, Trump’s plan could actually significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for some of the sickest people on Medicare.

 

New York Times: Trump Plan to Lower Drug Prices Could Increase Costs for Some Patients

 

By Robert Pear

 

When President Trump unveiled his plan to lower prescription drug prices in a Rose Garden speech last month, he said he would inject more competition into the market by bolstering negotiating powers under Medicare. But experts analyzing the plan warn of a possible side effect: The proposal could significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for some of the sickest people on Medicare.

At the heart of the president’s plan is a proposal to switch some expensive drugs from one part of Medicare to another part — moving them from Part B, the medical benefit created in the original 1965 Medicare law, to Part D, the outpatient drug benefit added by Congress in 2003.

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