It’s a great win. None of my questions affect that. But I’m looking forward to greater clarity on several points.
- How will Medicare negotiation of drug prices affect the prices in “Medicare Advantage” plans?
Several posters here emphasize that “Medicare Advantage” plans are not real Medicare. A separate insurance company offers and manages them, and people who enroll in them have their monthly Medicare payments forwarded on by Medicare to the insurance company. These companies, in my experience, each have their own “formularies” categorizing prescription drugs into different tiers with different co-pays for each tier.
As I understand the Medicare negotiation process, next year Medicare will solicit bids for the 10 drugs that cost it the most money in total (and therefore can save the most with a better price). Then, the next year, it does that for the 15 most costly drugs, and expands the negotiated field each year.
What I do not understand is: will the negotiated price apply only to those drugs dispensed under Medicare Part D for “traditional” Medicare subscribers, or will it also apply to Part D offered in private “Medicare Advantage” plans?
- Will the $35 cap on per-month insulin price apply to Medicare Advantage plans?
- The $7500 tax credit for new electric vehicles. It includes requirements that the vehicles not use scarce minerals from certain nations, including China, and requires that the batteries themselves be primarily manufactured in the US. I have seen suggestions that this will mean no cars qualify today. Is that accurate? Or are there some models that do qualify?
- The $4000 tax credit on used electric vehicles. Do the same restrictions on the countries for components apply? How will it be managed—is it available for a private sale (e.g., Craigslist)?
We’ll get the answers soon enough, I suppose.