Washington, DC (November 3, 2021) – The National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) released the following statement in response to potential changes to the Medicare Part D program. This statement can be attributed to NHCOA President & CEO Yanira Cruz:

“Older adults need reliable access to a wide variety of prescription medications in order to maintain their collective health and wellbeing. For more than fifteen years, the Medicare Part D program has provided affordable coverage to beneficiaries, opening pathways to treatments best tailored to their individual circumstances. While addressing patient out-of-pocket costs remains a top priority for older Americans and their advocates, rumored policy proposals allowing onerous government-enforced price controls risk harming the tangible successes of Medicare Part D.

There are other, far less disruptive ways to address Part D beneficairies’ out-of-pocket costs that enjoy a wide base of support. Proposals that tie beneficiary out of pocket costs to the negotiate price, an out of pocket cap in Medicare Part D, and smoothing beneficiary costs out over the year are all wins for patients. Proposals aimed at putting the government in the middle of health care delivery could have significant downstreams affects. We urge you to focus on common sense, patient centered reforms instead of government interference”.