President Joe Biden has released his plans for Medicare in his 2024 budget, including extending coverage and lowering costs.
Below are eight details from the administration's March 7 fact sheet:
- The proposed budget would extend the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund's solvency by a minimum of 25 years.
- The latest Medicare trustees report predicted the trust fund would become insolvent by 2028. The new budget would protect the fund into the 2050s.
- President Biden plans to increase the Medicare tax rate on individuals with over $400,000 in earned and unearned income from 3.8 percent to 5 percent.
- The budget will close loopholes in current Medicare taxes and allocate the net investment income tax to the HI trust fund.
- An estimated $200 billion in savings from prescription drug reforms will also go toward the HI trust fund.
- Negotiations to lower out-of-pocket costs for drugs are expected to save beneficiaries billions of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
- The budget seeks to cap Medicare Part D cost-sharing for certain drugs to $2 per prescription each month.
- Cost sharing would also be eliminated for beneficiaries who have three mental or behavioral health visits per year. The budget would also provide parity between physical and mental health coverage as well as coverage and payment for new types of Medicare providers, such as certified addiction counselors.