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Our Concerns About Medicare & Medicaid as they Turn 61 Years Old

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law 61 years ago today! These legacy Great Society programs could not be MORE IMPORTANT, but the political right has been targeting them for years - and lately, they have been successful in chipping away at the programs that seniors and lower income people depend on for health coverage. We asked our legislative and policy director Dan Adcock to reflect on Medicare's history and the threats that it faces today.
2026-07-30T15:30:57-04:00July 30th, 2026|Categories: Joe Biden, Medicaid, Medicare, President Trump, Republicans|

Trump & GOP’s Role in Rising Health Insurance Costs

New reporting shows Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums are set to spike by an average of 14% in 2027, on top of last year’s double‑digit hike. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a Trump administration that has made life more expensive and health care less secure for the most vulnerable Americans.  For millions of Americans who buy coverage on the ACA marketplaces, the story of the past two years is simple: the bill got bigger, the help got smaller, and people are walking away from coverage.
2026-07-22T11:03:02-04:00July 22nd, 2026|Categories: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare, Trump Administration|

The Trump/Vance Medicaid Retribution Road Show

The Trump administration continues to weaponize Medicaid to punish Blue States under the phony cover of hunting for “waste, fraud, and abuse.”  Trump named J.D. Vance ‘fraud czar’ – and the veep has wasted no time withholding billions of dollars in Medicaid funds from Democratic-run states. Last week, Vance announced he’s holding back $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California over allegations of “fraud.” There obviously is no love lost between the Trump administration and Governor Gavin Newsome’s state. 
2026-05-18T15:33:48-04:00May 18th, 2026|Categories: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, GOP, healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare|

Trump Throws Medicare, Medicaid Under The Bus for War in Iran

We always knew Trump wasn’t sincere about protecting Medicare and Medicaid. But he just betrayed his own lie by saying that the two programs - which provide 140 million people with health coverage - should NOT EXIST on the federal level. Why? Because defense should be the federal government’s only priority. Trump didn’t run as a libertarian. But his (poorly worded) declaration would make the Cato Institute blush:
2026-04-03T12:57:13-04:00April 3rd, 2026|Categories: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare, President Trump, Uncategorized|

Medicare Advantage Is Costing Traditional Medicare Patients Even More Money

t’s more than a little ironic that the for-profit Medicare Advantage program – which was supposed to save everyone money – is actually going to increase costs for people in traditional medicare. Congressional investigators blame this year’s spike in Medicare Part premiums on Medicare Advantage overbilling the government by billions of dollars. Fresh reporting from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) details how those overpayments translated into an estimated $13.4 billion in extra Part B premiums in 2025 alone. In other words, every person with Part B — including those who do not enroll in Medicare Advantage — is effectively subsidizing excess payments to private insurers. This revelation is only the latest in a series of Medicare Advantage scandals.
2026-03-25T09:43:52-04:00March 24th, 2026|Categories: Medicare, Medicare Advantage|

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.”
2026-02-26T13:02:16-04:00February 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.
2026-02-12T14:53:01-04:00February 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. 
2026-01-27T13:06:12-04:00January 26th, 2026|Categories: Medicare, Medicare Advantage|

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