Rep. Moore's claims that he would help seniors with Medicare and drug costs are duplicitous

A judge in Utah recently threw out Amendment D because it was neither transparent, accurate nor included full disclosure. It is a shame that Rep. Blake Moore's recent claims of helping seniors with Medicare and drug costs could not be presented to a judge to consider his claims.

First, the mailer asked me to “urge him to continue fighting for affordable drug coverage by opposing HR4895.” Imagine my surprise that HR4895 is titled “Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act.” It would increase the number of drugs subject to Medicare and private price negotiations, expected to save Medicare Part D enrollees $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs, and would have saved Medicare $6 billion last year, and it also allows the VA to purchase medications at 54% cheaper prices. I should be against it?

Next came Moore's ad in The Trib asking me to join him in supporting HR9394, the HOPE Act, which establishes tax-free accounts to cover qualified out-of-pocket health care expenses, such as: B. Prescriptions to be paid. It doesn't take an economist to see that this would simply shift some of the private costs onto the general taxpayer, that it would primarily benefit the wealthy through high tax burdens, and that it would likely increase the demand for drugs Prices and profits of pharmaceutical companies skyrocket. This helps “hardworking Americans”? Barely.

Finally, we get the full-page Trib ad from “Commitment to Seniors” to take action to “end the Biden-Harris crackdown on Medicare.” What is it about? It is estimated that Medicare will purchase the same amount of drugs between 2023 and 2031, saving $260 billion. This frees up the amount of government revenue that can be used for other goals such as clean energy. This is hardly a “raid on Medicare.”

I am urged to “thank Rep. Blake Moore for his work to protect (my) Medicare.” This is duplicity. What is really going on here can be seen in the “Commitment to Seniors” link in the ad. It says, “There are far better free-market solutions to health care costs…” That’s why she and Rep. Moore want to privatize Medicare; Their “health care approach” is to kill Medicare to save it. Such duplicity appears to be pervasive among Utah politicians. We should follow the judge and not tolerate him.

Ken Jameson, Salt Lake City

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