Clare Ath
Charles Town
Senator Joe Manchin very publicly killed his party’s sprawling, multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better legislation in December. It’s “dead,” he told reporters, knowing he’d win plaudits from his West Virginia constituents who overwhelmingly opposed the bill.
Our senior senator is now trying to revive that legislation, just with a different name. He’s backing a proposal that relies on tax increases and government price controls on drugs, backed by a new 95% excise tax in Medicare, to raise federal revenue, thereby freeing up money for new climate and social programs.
That’s music to the ears of liberal Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It’s bad news for ordinary West Virginians, who are worried about pocketbook issues and high inflation.
The intention might be good, but his proposals will end up hurting the folks he’s trying to help.
People are struggling. A recent study shows 59% of West Virginia residents are having a hard time covering their usual household expenses. For 14%, it’s now “very difficult” — almost double the percentage from only a few months ago.
Healthcare costs, in particular, are a huge problem for many Mountaineers. In 2019, West Virginia pharmacies filled 18 prescriptions per capita — the second-highest number of any state. Some 41% of West Virginians have either stopped taking medication because the cost is too high, or they know someone who has had to. This is unacceptable.
But Sen. Manchin’s proposal won’t really help those who need relief. He wants the federal government to impose price controls on medicines covered by Medicare.
That’ll backfire in two ways: one obvious and one less obvious. Price controls will scare investors away from funding the biotech companies that invent new medications, leaving us all sicker in the long run.
But they’ll also have a disastrous short-term effect, since the lower prices would also mean lower reimbursements for doctor’s offices and clinics that administer medicines through Medicare Part B, which covers drugs that must be administered intravenously. Many clinics will close or reduce staffing, leading to worse quality care for patients.
And the lower prices wouldn’t even reduce patients’ out-of-pocket spending by much. Most savings would go to the government, which would repurpose the money for new climate and social programs.
If Sen. Manchin really wants to reduce what we pay for medicines, he could instead ensure the enormous discounts that insurers and other middlemen receive from drug makers get passed on to patients at the pharmacy. Currently, insurers typically use these discounts to pad their bottom lines and lower premiums.
Sen. Manchin made a big show of killing the Build Back Better Act. But some of its worst policies are now back on the table. If passed, West Virginians will see the quality of their health care decline as the funding is redirected away from safety net programs like Medicare toward progressive climate initiatives.