Democratic Achievements

  130 This is the number of mass shootings in America in 2023 so far. 557 billion This is the total economic cost to the economy from gun violence.  This is equal to 2.6% of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is 5 times the budget of the US Department of Education. Generation Lockdown   Burger Retired Chief Justice Warren Burger, on 12/16/1991, referring to the 2nd Amendment stated that "this has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime". Graham Lindsey Graham says he is opposed to a ban on AR-15s. TN On gun violence in schools, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) just accepts defeat and says "We're not gonna fix it."  In an average year, 1,385 people die by guns in Tennessee and 1121 in Virginia. Biden Passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) in 2022 Executive Order to reduce gun violence . President Biden announced an Executive Order with the goal of inc...

 Americans generally understand that federally funded programs which boost economic activity have some potential to raise the rate of inflation, but recent claims that the recently-passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a major contributor to our present rate of inflation are simply not accurate.  Aside from erratic supply chains and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Economist attributes federal government outlays during the COVID pandemic as the primary and continuing factor driving inflation in the US. Our government “was a lot more aggressive than others in stimulating the economy during the covid-19 pandemic” according to that analysis which has created a gap between government spending and revenues “more than triple its level before the pandemic and higher than all other big rich countries”. So, it’s fair and accurate to point to COVID-era policies as drivers of inflation. But not the Inflation Reduction Act. In fact, the IRA will over the next decade be a huge brake on...

 Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California was going to wield the power of the 5th largest economy in the world to ... no, not ban the mention of periods in school or ban books or ban drag shows or ban LGBTQ rights ,,, but to shape the medication market for the benefit of all Americans. How, pray tell, is he going to do that ?  California is going to make it's own insulin and sell it at near cost. Last week at a press conference, Newsom announced that California has secured a contract with a generic insulin manufacturer , Civica, to begin making some of the most common types of insulin (glargine, lispro and aspart) towards the end of the year. Warning ! Medical information ahead !  Glargine is a long lasting insulin (typically lasting 24 hours and it is usually injected once a day).  Lispro is a very fast acting insulin but doesn't last very long.  Aspart is another fast acting insulin but may last somewhat longer than Lispro.  This combina...

 Health and Human Services now estimates that 1.5 million people with Medicare would have saved approximately $500 on out-of-pocket (OOP) insulin expense if the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) had been in effect in 2020.   Remember that the IRA caps the OOP cost of insulin per prescription fill to $35.   So, you are asking, why is an average OOP cost of $42 per month ($500 divided by 12 months = $42 per month) such a big deal ?  Yes, that is a savings of $7 per month.  Not much, huh.  These numbers are based on filled prescriptions.  What we don't know is the number of UNFILLED prescriptions that would drive the numbers higher. In my healthcare practice, it was not unusual for people to slow down on insulin use and stretch that bottle further to afford the drug.  This was true of many medications.  God forbid that they drop and break a bottle of insulin or tip over a bottle of pills. Many of my patients were pretty indigent with littl...

 We reported previously that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) mandates that all Medicare Part D plans (Part D covers medications) in 2023 and in the future will need to 100% cover all vaccines that the CDC recommends for people over 50 (except those that are already covered by Part A/B - Flu for example). Here are the numbers: In 2021, 3.4 million Medicare enrollees spent $234 million on out-of-pocket (OOP) cost for vaccines.  This translate to $70 per medicare enrollee out-of-pocket.  In Virginia, it was $83.72 per enrollee. This year in 2023, Medicare Part D enrollees paid a big zippo for those recommended vaccines. So, you say, what is the big deal about paying $70 ?  What this figure does NOT show is how many vaccines were NOT given because of cost.  For instance, the shingles vaccine (recommended by the CDC and healthcare providers) usually costs hundreds of dollars.   In my healthcare practice, many elderly declined that vaccine as well as a Tda...

 Today, the "it" in the title refers to the "Inflation rate" ! Yes, that's right, inflation has been going down, down, down since 6/30/22 ! The rate of inflation for the year ending: 6/30/2022 was 9.1% 7/31/2022 was 8.5% - down 1/31/2023 was 6.3% - down 2/28/2023 was 6.0% - down Go Joe Biden !

 We previously talked about Biden's impressive and compassionate 2024 budget ( here and here ) that emphasized supporting families, increasing taxes on billionaires and corporations, stimulating the economy, increasing good jobs, and reducing the deficit. Let's take a further look at how Biden's budget helps families: Cuts Child Care Costs A new proposal to enable States to increase child care options for more than 16 million young children and lowers costs so that parents can afford to send their children to high-quality child care. The Budget also provides $9 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, an increase of nearly $1 billion, to expand access to quality, affordable child care for families across the Nation. In addition, the Budget expands a tax credit to encourage businesses to provide child care benefits to their employees. Who is helped by this budget item -  this budget item obviously benefits children, parents and businesses.  If parents have ...

  The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in 2022, is an incredibly multi-faceted piece of legislation that impacts numerous aspects of life in America. It has provisions for the environment, clean economy, healthcare, broadband, medication prices, IRS enforcement of wealthy tax cheats, deficit reduction, rebates and tax credits for energy efficient in homes, and on and on. Let's talk about a benefit that will hugely impact the health of seniors. The IRA mandates that all Medicare Part D plans (Part D covers medications) in 2023 and in the future will need to 100% cover all vaccines that the CDC recommends for people over 50 (except those that are already covered by Part A/B - Flu for example). These now covered (by Part A/B or now Part D) vaccines include: Shingles vaccine  Pneumonia vaccines Tdap (tetanus, diptheria, pertussis - whooping cough) and/or Td (tetanus booster) Hepatitis A/B vaccines Flu  You have probably known someone who has had shingles.  As a...

President Biden along with stalwart Democratic and sensible Republican legislators deserve credit for including in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) caps on the money paid by Medicare recipients for prescribed drugs. That good news, unfortunately, gets buried in a bill filled with other and unrelated provisions that dominate commentary on right-wing media and FOX News. But someone is listening.  Just last week Eli Lilly, after months of pressure from ordinary citizens and the Biden Administration, agreed to cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 dollars a month —that figure, not coincidentally, is the exact restriction mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act for Medicare recipients.   And the bill goes much further, the IRA’s broader language mandating that all out of pocket expenses for drug prescriptions for all citizens on Medicare irrespective of income, political affiliation, or favorite beer be limited to $2000 a year . Those savings might not mean much to Elon...

Inflation Reduction Act Caps Medicare out of pocket drug costs at $2000 per year Medicare can now negotiate down the cost of medications Reduces the deficit Beefs up the IRS to go after wealthy tax cheats. Caps Medicare insulin costs at $35 per month (Republicans sabotaged the same for private insurance). Taking 100 actions to lower household energy costs - including tax credits for energy efficient upgrades (appliances, insulation, EVs, heat pumps, etc.). CHIPS and Science Act Makes more semiconductors in the US - increases supply lines and national security.  Will add 700,000 manufacturing jobs including Union jobs The American Rescue Plan Funded free Covid-19 vaccination and testing campaign Provided 7 million emergency rental assistance payments to those at risk for eviction Approximately 78% fully vaccinated. Delivered needed relief to families by sending over 160 million checks to Americans, expanding food and rental assistance, and providing aid to thousands of small busines...

Why is everyone talking about insulin ? For more than 14% of people who use insulin in the U.S., insulin costs consume at least 40% of their available income, a new study finds .  Add that cost to housing, food, transportation, heating, the high cost of other medications and many other financial burdens and we have a kitchen table disaster where people often have to choose between life saving medication and other necessities. One largely overlooked provision in the Inflation Reduction Act is that Medicare patients pay no more than $35 dollars a month for prescriptions of insulin. This is a boon to 3.3 million Medicare patients with Part D coverage but 5.1 million private and uninsured patients are left out in the cold because Republicans killed a separate provision that would have required private insurance companies to do the same.  So why isn’t this provision extended to private insurers ? Big Pharma’s legislators and lobbyists claim that limiting the price set by private-se...