House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith reacted on July 29 to a Congressional Budget Office letter regarding an upward revision of Medicare Part D costs in the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2026 to 2036.
Arrington said, “The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) new analysis confirms what Republicans sounded the alarm on for years: The drug pricing scheme in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) fails to deliver the savings Democrats promised. CBO originally estimated these policies would save taxpayers $129 billion. Instead, CBO now confirms the IRA’s misguided policies were the major driver behind higher projected Part D expenditures, contributing to a $700 billion deficit increase.”
He continued, “We have once again confirmed that Democrats, with CBO’s analysis in hand, sold the American people a false bill of goods in the Inflation Reduction Act. Combined with the Joint Committee on Taxation’s $600 billion miscalculation of the cost of the Green New Deal tax credits, we now know the IRA cost Americans $1.3 trillion more in new deficit spending. Today, taxpayers are left holding the bag due to Democrats’ failed experiment in price fixing and their Green New Deal climate agenda.”
Guthrie said, “Earlier this year, CBO’s baseline update projected significantly higher costs for Medicare Part D, including an estimated $700 billion in additional Medicare prescription drug spending over the next decade. In response to the May letter I sent, alongside Chairmen Arrington and Smith, CBO highlighted how the problematic design of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has not led to the savings CBO originally projected but has instead led to increased costs for taxpayers and instability in the Part D marketplace. The Part D program is critical to meeting seniors’ needs and requires durable regulatory policies to ensure long-term affordability and availability of prescription drug plans for these beneficiaries.”
Smith said, “Washington Democrats’ Inflation Expansion Act was yet another costly promise that failed to deliver lower prices for seniors. Democrats promised lower prescription drug prices, but Congressional Budget Office is once again confirming that their policies instead increased costs for America’s seniors and taxpayers by an additional $700 billion while offering 50% fewer drug plans for them to choose from. Plain and simple, Democrats have made it harder for seniors to afford prescription drugs,” he added, noting that Americans are paying more for health care while facing fewer choices.
Medicare is identified as one of the largest drivers of federal debt; according to background information provided by committee staffers within this release, CBO increased its projections for Medicare spending by $1 trillion compared with last year’s baseline due largely to increases in fee-for-service spending as well as rising Part D costs.
The House Budget Committee collaborates with agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office when preparing annual budget resolutions designed around fiscal responsibility targets; it also oversees federal spending processes through mechanisms like reconciliation, according to the official website.