That’s less than half the money Biden originally sought for his long-term care plan, but it will help reduce waiting lists for services while improving wages and benefits for home health aides. Biden would also extend through 2025 more generous financial assistance that’s already being provided for consumers who buy “Obamacare” plans.Īnother major element of Biden’s framework would allocate $150 billion through Medicaid for home- and community-based care for seniors and disabled people. The fix is only funded for four years, a budgetary gimmick intended to make cost estimates appear lower. Under the Biden blueprint eligible uninsured people in states that have not expanded Medicaid could get subsidized private coverage through at no cost to them. Multiple Republican opponents including former football great Herschel Walker are vying to face him.
senator, said in a statement Thursday.ĭelivering a big achievement is most urgent for the freshman, as he faces reelection next year in a quest for a full six-year term.
“Georgians showed up in historic numbers to change the shape of our federal government, and many did so with the hope that Washington would finally close the circle on the promise of the Affordable Care Act and make health care coverage accessible to the hundreds of thousands of Georgians who are currently uninsured,” Warnock, the state’s first Black U.S. Warnock made getting a Medicaid fix his signature issue. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff campaigned on closing the Medicaid coverage gap, and it was their election that put the Senate in Democratic hands this year. Texas, Florida and Georgia are among the Medicaid hold-outs. The decision by some Republican-led states to reject expansion of Medicaid under the Obama health law meant that 2 million poor people were essentially locked out of coverage in a dozen states, and another 2 million unable to afford even subsidized plans. Discussions are continuing around a more limited approach to drug price negotiations, according to a senior Democratic aide in the House, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a fluid situation.Įxpanding Medicaid has been the top policy priority for Democrats in Deep South states for years, citing the poverty and poor health that plagues much of the region. Also on hold is a long-sought limit on out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare recipients. The Biden framework does call for covering hearing aids, far less costly. Without expected savings from lower drug prices, Medicare dental coverage for seniors is on hold, as is vision coverage. Not getting a deal on prescription drugs has consequences. Advocacy groups are voicing outrage over the omission, with AARP calling it “a monumental mistake.” Polls show broad bipartisan support for authorizing Medicare to negotiate lower prices, yet a handful of Democratic lawmakers-enough to block the bill-echo pharmaceutical industry arguments that it would dampen investment that drives innovation. It also calls for 12 months of Medicaid coverage after childbirth for low-income mothers, seen as a major step to address national shortcomings in maternal health that fall disproportionately on Black women.īut with Medicare, Democrats were unable to reach consensus on prescription drug price negotiations. The budget blueprint Biden released Thursday would fulfill a campaign promise to help poor people locked out of Medicaid expansion across the South due to partisan battles, and it would provide low-income seniors and disabled people with more options to stay out of nursing homes by getting support in their own homes.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Medicaid issues are turning up as winners in President Joe Biden’s social agenda framework even as divisions force Democrats to hit pause on far-reaching improvements to Medicare.