Medicare Archives

Trump Offers Seniors Lies & Empty Promises in State of the Union Speech

Last night, Donald Trump delivered a bloated, hyper-partisan spectacle that did nothing to reassure the concerns of older Americans. In fact, the president attempted to mislead seniors about the administration’s policies that most seriously affect them. “The state of the union speech was theatrics over substance. And it was brazenly partisan,” said NCPSSM president and CEO, Max Richtman. “Trump’s brand of political performance art is no substitute for leadership that improves the lives of Americans of all ages, including our nation’s seniors.”

Lucas Kaplan2026-02-26T13:02:16-04:00February 25th, 2026|Categories: Congress, Medicaid, Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA), Trump, Trump Administration|

TrumpRx is Prescription Drug Snake Oil

Donald Trump’s latest gesture toward lowering prescription drug prices — and it is mostly an empty gesture — is the ‘branded’ website, TrumpRx, which the prez unveiled last week with great fanfare. It purports to save Americans money on drugs. But it is largely another Trump gimmick, joining Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Sneakers, and a myriad of other schemes. Trump Rx simply re-directs users to underwhelming (and already existing) manufacturer’s ‘discounts’ on brand‑name drugs – and is nowhere close to a serious plan to lower costs for the approximately 67 million seniors who rely on Medicare. In fact, Medicare beneficiaries cannot even use these manufacturer’s discounts, and few people with private health insurance policies will benefit, either.

Lucas Kaplan2026-02-12T14:53:01-04:00February 12th, 2026|Categories: Medicare, Prescription Drug Prices, President Trump|

Medicare Advantage Keeps Gaming The System, New Data Reveals

Over the years, we here at the National Committee have talked a lot about the disadvantages of Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. These plans — which have become a gold mine for profit-focused insurers and their Wall Street backers — cover over half of Medicare beneficiaries, and are sold as a cheaper alternative to traditional Medicare. In reality, these private plansschemes are bleeding taxpayers for $76 billion more in 2026 than traditional Medicare would cost for comparable enrollees. A thorough analysis by MedPage — drawing from data provided by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) — highlights MA’s broken promises.

Lucas Kaplan2026-01-27T13:06:12-04:00January 26th, 2026|Categories: Medicare, Medicare Advantage|

What’s Behind the Medicare Part B Premium Spike?

The nearly 67 million Americans who depend on Medicare will ring in the new year with an unwelcome cost increase. The

NCPSSM2025-12-02T12:44:45-04:00November 19th, 2025|Categories: COLAs, Congress, Max Richtman, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, seniors, Social Insurance, Social Security|

What Does the End of the Shutdown Mean for Older Americans?

As the longest government shutdown in U.S. history finally ends, many of our readers are asking: what does this deal mean for older adults? We supported Democratic efforts to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies. Without Congressional action to extend these subsidies, millions of “near seniors”— aged 54 to 65— are poised to face dramatically higher health insurance premiums in 2026.

Lucas Kaplan2025-11-13T14:54:37-04:00November 13th, 2025|Categories: affordable care act, Congress, Democrats, GOP, Medicare, Older Americans, Republicans|

Open Enrollment Season Begins at a Fraught Time for Medicare

This year's Medicare open enrollment season, which began on October 15, comes at a concerning time for the program. There are

NCPSSM2025-10-17T15:44:30-04:00October 17th, 2025|Categories: Medicare, Medicare Advantage|

Let the Drug Pricing Games Begin!

nder pressure from the White House, Big Pharma has been touting “discounts” via Direct to Consumer (DTC) websites. Meanwhile, the Trump administration promises to unveil its own prescription website, immodestly named TrumpRx, in 2026. Prescription drug prices obviously are still too high, though President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 was beginning to make headway in bringing them down. Unlike Biden’s IRA, these latest gestures by Big Pharma and the Trump Administration should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.

NCPSSM2025-10-15T15:07:19-04:00October 3rd, 2025|Categories: Medicare, Medicare Deciding on Part D Coverage, Prescription Drug Prices, President Biden, Trump|

Trump Shutdown Could Snag Social Security, Medicare

In normal times, a government shutdown --- while unfortunate --- would not be cause for immediate alarm for people on Social Security and Medicare. But these are not normal times. The Trump administration has made the shutdown more perilous for the most vulnerable Americans because of its campaign to undermine the delivery of both programs --- not to mention the President’s recent threat to cut benefits.

NCPSSM2025-10-15T15:31:31-04:00October 1st, 2025|Categories: COLAs, Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Social Security, Social Security Administration (SSA), Trump, Trump Administration|

Medicare Turned 60! Here’s Why We Can’t Simply Celebrate

Medicare turns 60 years old today. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law on July 30, 1965, giving seniors a guarantee of health coverage that never existed before. Prior to Medicare’s enactment, it was nearly impossible for older people to obtain health insurance, as they were considered a ‘bad risk.’

Walter Gottlieb2025-09-26T15:59:50-04:00July 30th, 2025|Categories: Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare Advantage|

2025 Medicare Premium Hike Nothing New, Part of Larger Trend

Medicare beneficiaries will be paying a higher premium for Part B insurance in 2025. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Medicare premiums have been rising every year for decades now. The 2025 increase, though, is receiving an unusual amount of attention, probably because of the media’s hyper-focus on inflation in general.

Walter Gottlieb2024-11-18T14:16:49-04:00November 18th, 2024|Categories: Medicare, Medicare Advantage|