Democrats pressurizes President to include prescription drugs and medicare extension in American Families Plan

Democrats on the Capitol are pressuring President Biden to include prescription drugs and extend Medicare in his upcoming American Families Plan. This comes after the White House had signalled earlier that it won’t include major health care policy reforms.

17 senators led by Senate Budget Chairman Bernie Sander, I-Vt., through a letter pressured Biden to include Medicare in his “American Families Plan”, the second part of ‘Build Better’ agenda, which he is expected to roll out in a speech on Wednesday to Congress.

I sent a letter with 16 of my colleagues today asking President Biden to propose in his American Families Plan the most significant expansion of Medicare since it was signed into law to improve the lives of millions of Americans. pic.twitter.com/SgS5XQOsPi

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 25, 2021

The American Families Plan is expected to invest in child care, paid family leave and education, paid for by a combination of tax increases on high-income earners. The White House describes the plan as an investment in “human infrastructure”.

Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, stated on Friday, “He will definitely talk in his speech about his commitment to expanding and increasing access to health care.” She also hinted towards the actions already undertaken by the president in his COVID-19 rescue plan to extend the Affordable Care Act Subsidy.

American Families Plan “will not represent the totality of every priority item for him and every item on his agenda that he wants to move forward with as a president,” she added.

The Washington Post reported that the American Families Plan, which is still not solid enough, will come in at around $1.8 trillion, including $300 billion for education, $225 for paid family and medical leaves, $225 for child care, and $200 billion for pre-kindergarten preparation.

The Post also reported that it will include $200 billion to extend more health insurance subsidies through ACA. This would mean that the plan does include health care but not at the scale which the progressives are demanding.

Sanders along with Democrats senators on Sunday asked the president to extend the benefits of Medicare by including hearing, dental, and vision care and also to reduce the Medicare eligibility age, which is currently at 65.

“As you know, Medicare has been one of the most successful and popular federal programs in our nation’s history since it was signed into the law by President Lyndon Johnson, in 1965,” the letter from the senators read. “Now, 55 years later, the time is long overdue for us to expand and improve this program so that millions of old Americans can receive the health care they need, including eyeglasses, hearing aid and dental care.”

Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have pushed Biden to include permanent child tax credit in his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

Combined, Biden’s American Jobs Plans and American Families Plan would cost around $4 trillion. The president has suggested an increase in the corporate tax rate to pay for the former and it is expected of him to hike the capital gain tax for the latter. The White House has assured that any families earning less than $400,000 would pay any more taxes under the plan.