Republican Plans for Medicare in 2020

What is Republicans Medicare Plan? With all candidates across both aisles almost always preparing for elections, everyone wants to know their ideas about Medicare, especially when it could have a major impact on the care you can afford and receive. 

However, as early as July of 2019, there are few New Jersey candidates broadcasting their platforms, and the party as a whole has gone on record claiming they would prefer not to unveil an official, unified plan until after the 2020 election. That doesn't mean there are no answers to be had, though. What is available and up for discussion is the Republican-led budget for 2020, which includes expenditures for Medicare and Social Security. This can be a good resource for your metric for what Republican Medicare may look like.

How Does the Budget for 2020 Affect Medicare and Social Security? 

At present, the proposed budget for the coming year speaks for many different departments but already shows what can be expected where Medicare's 2020 state could be, as well as Social Security and a number of other social programs that people of all ages rely on. 

Here are the relevant details to Republican Medicare as they appear as of early July, 2019: 

• Despite promises not to touch Medicare in 2016, the budget proposes a 10 percent cut, adding up to $845 billion cut over the next 10 years. However, the budget aims to make these cuts by reducing wasteful spending and lowering prescription drug costs.
• We would also see a $25 billion cut to Social Security over the next 10 years (including disability insurance). 

The budget for the fiscal year of 2020 is a record $4.7 trillion. Other social programs seeing cuts that may affect some lower-income Medicare recipients are SNAP benefits ($220 billion over the next 10 years, including work requirements) and Medicaid ($1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, including eliminating Medicaid expansions made by the ACA and would also introduce work requirements). 

How Would Repealing the ACA (Obamacare) Affect Medicare in 2020?

Another major focus of the Republican budget for 2020 is the repeal of the ACA. As the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, had a notable focus on Medicare and its recipients, and the current budget as it stands calls for doing away with it entirely, one has to wonder the effects it might have in the Republican Medicare plan:

• It could unclose a donut hole in Medicare part D that existed before the ACA, which left many Medicare recipients struggling with thousands in drug costs.
• Expansions of coverage brought by the ACA would be lost, including a 23 percent increase in prescription rebates that has saved states like New Jersey billions of dollars. 
• Higher costs Medicare Parts A and B are predicted for lower income individuals, as the ACA charged high income Medicare recipients a higher amount on their Medicare premium.