The federal government is ending the temporary Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration after 2026.
The subsidy is being eliminated for 2027. It was created to prevent sharp Part D premium increases after the Inflation Reduction Act changed the drug benefit.
The program cost Medicare about $9.8 billion over 2025–2026. In 2026 alone, it was estimated to cost about $3.6 billion.
For 2026, CMS reduced the subsidy supporting plans from $15 to $10 per beneficiary per month, while also increasing the limit on year-over-year premium increases from $35 to $50.
This is not a cut to the Part D drug benefit itself. The $2,100 annual out-of-pocket cap remains in place for 2026 (but still adjusted each year), and the underlying Part D redesign remains.
The immediate consequence of ending the subsidy is that stand-alone Part D premiums could rise in 2027. CMS says most people will see an increase of less than $10 per month, although independent analysts caution that increases will vary substantially by plan.
Final 2027 premiums aren’t expected until September.
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“… The federal government is ending the temporary Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration after 2026. …”
That’s intentionally misleading.
Your note, assigning blame for ending the subsidy after 2026 to the current federal government is baloney – more blame the idiot ass Trump Administration and Republican controlled Congress.
The Democratic Congess and President Joe Biden schedule the end to the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration as part of the same legislation that created the improved benefits. The extra Part D subsidy program connected to the Inflation Reduction Act was ALWAYS designed as a temporary financial bridge and was ALWAYS set to expire on December 31, 2026
Improve benefits to buy votes from seniors, and send the bill to generations too young to vote and generations yet unborn. Get seniors hooked on ever greater entitlements that their taxes didn’t fund, and, watch them complain if you don’t extend the subsidy.
Just like the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988, expect seniors will complain once they have to shoulder the cost of these benefits improvements. However, assuming the government doesn’t change the allocation of Medicare Part D costs, guess what, seniors will continue to avoid most of the cost from the expiration of the temporary subsidy because about 75% of Medicare Part D comes from general revenues – where we continue to run ~$2 Trillion a year in annual deficits, adding to our already $40 Trillion in national debt.
Why is anyone surprised to hear that, similar to the Democrat-only approved expiration of this subsidy and the Medicare Part D subsidy, that people will complain once they have to shoulder the vote buying added benefits, and that, because the temporary subsidies lapsed after Trump’s reelection, that people, like you, blame the idiot ass Trump, the Republican Congress, and the Trump Administration.
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Typo:
Says: “Why is anyone surprised to hear that, similar to the Democrat-only approved expiration of this subsidy and the Medicare Part D subsidy …”
Should say: Why is anyone surprised to hear that, similar to the Democrat-only approved expiration of the super dollop of public exchange subsidies and this Medicare Part D subsidy …”
Sorry, BenefitJack
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