Tag: corporate taxes

Will you get insulin-cost relief from the inflation bill? Not if you have private insurance

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Will you get insulin-cost relief from the inflation bill? Not if you have private insurance

But an out-of-pocket cap identical to that for Medicare was stripped from the bill for those with private insurance because Democrats are trying to pass the bill by a simple majority through the reconciliation process. That requires Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to vet the provisions. She said most of the health-related features were fine, but the insulin proposal for those who have private insurance, not Medicare, violated the Byrd provision, which says that issues “extraneous to the federal budget” cannot be passed by simple majority through reconciliation.

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Out-of-pocket spending for those with Part D Medicare drug coverage will be capped at $2,000 a year.

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In 2024, a 5% coinsurance payment that now kicks in after someone reaches the catastrophic drug spending level of $7,050 in Medicare will end. Because drug companies set their own prices, 5% on expensive drugs can be a lot of money.

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Manchin’s Climate Reversal Comes With Major Caveat: Expanding Oil and Gas

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Conservative coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) announced on Wednesday that he has come to an agreement with Democratic leaders for a reconciliation bill with key climate, prescription drug price and tax reforms — with a major caveat to expand oil and gas exploration.

Manchin’s Climate Reversal Comes With Major Caveat: Expanding Oil and Gas

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Senate Dems reach draft deal to extend ACA premiums, lower drug costs

Also included in the Inflation Reduction Act — a bid to lower drug prices. Medicare will be allowed to negotiate the prices of some 10 pharmaceutical drugs in 2026, 15 more drugs in 2027 and 2028 and 20 more in 2029. In addition to price negotiation, the bill also imposes penalizing rebates on pharmaceutical manufacturers who hike drug costs above the rate of inflation starting next year.

Neoliberalism is the Bipartisan Consensus, Not the Lesser of Two Evils

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Neoliberalism is the Bipartisan Consensus, Not the Lesser of Two Evils

West’s incorrect partisan conceptualization of neoliberalism is not only wrong, but it is misleading. While the word “neoliberal” is etymologically related to the word “liberal,” it has no relationship with the current political usage of the term “liberal” and its modern association with the Democratic Party. Rather, it harkens back to the 18th century Scottish economic philosopher Adam Smith who advocated the removal of all tariffs and restrictions on free capital so that the “invisible hand” of the market could bring prosperity to all. In the post-WWII years of the 20th century, Smith’s ideas about the liberalization of capital were brought back into the spotlight by economist Friedrich Hayek and, later, Milton Friedman whose goal was to completely dismantle the social safety nets of FDR’s New Deal, which, it was argued, hampered free capital. Thus, neoliberalism is a “neo” form of 18th century economic liberalism and has no connection to the political “liberalism” of today’s Democratic Party.