Four years ago, when former President Joe Biden was hocking his Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — a misnomer if there ever was one — he and his fellow Democrats reassured the public that the law would reduce healthcare costs.
Changes that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, end drug rebates, and amend Medicare Part D benefits, they said, would produce $129 billion in taxpayer savings — a big chunk of the $290 billion of savings the law was supposedly going to deliver, all while also capping prescription drug costs and expanding Obamacare coverage…
Last month, at the request of several U.S. House Republicans, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revisited those estimates. Its findings? Not only were the initial estimates wrong, but the projected reductions actually added to the federal deficit.