Americans want a stronger economy as their top priority in the lead up to this 2024 election. At least that’s what the most current research from the Pew Research Center has found.

What exactly does that mean? It could be a bevy of different things. It could mean more jobs that can provide for a family instead of menial work. It could mean decreasing the inflation rate so that their dollars stretch further than they have been. It could mean lowering interest rates to make housing more affordable. Whatever it is, it isn’t what the Biden-Harris administration has been giving us.

Instead, they’ve either tried to deflect the economy question away by taking credit for natural job creation caused by the economy recovering from the COVID-19 downturn while issuing awkwardly executed references to “Bidenomics”:

Or they blow past the subject altogether, instead focusing on stopping Trump because he’s a “threat to Democracy.” But what have they done on the policy side?

Really, the only landmark piece of legislation they were able to sign is the Inflation Reduction Act – but how did that affect some of the most vulnerable people in this country?

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in August 2022, was touted by its champions in Congress and the White House as a solution to multiple issues—reducing the federal budget deficit, investing in renewable energy, lowering drug prices, and combating inflation.

Two years later, it’s clear that good intentions don’t necessarily translate into sound policy. The IRA has failed to deliver on many of its promises, with one of the most glaring issues being its approach to drug price controls, set to take effect in 2026. Under the IRA, the federal government has gained broad authority to dictate drug prices through the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program.

A recent analysis reveals that these provisions will likely result in higher costs for millions of seniors and disabled Americans who rely on Medicare Part D. This outcome should surprise no one—price controls rarely work as intended, and when they’re enforced, someone always ends up paying the price. It’s also no shock that government spending doesn’t reduce inflation. History has repeatedly shown the opposite.

The first wave of drugs affected includes ten medications selected to have a “maximum fair price” (MFP) under the IRA. In 2024, Medicare beneficiaries are generally responsible for fixed copays for most of these drugs. However, due to artificially capped drug prices, millions of beneficiaries will see a slower progression toward their Part D out-of-pocket limit, ultimately forcing them to pay more.

Low-income beneficiaries will be hit especially hard, with out-of-pocket costs increasing by an average of 27%. Asian and black beneficiaries who depend on the drugs subject to the MFP could see their costs rise by 13% and 15%, respectively. As usual, it’s the most vulnerable who bear the brunt of flawed government policy.

But it gets worse. The economic impacts of price controls on goods and services are well-documented. The unfortunate mix of good intentions and disastrous outcomes is no longer an excuse.

The real question is: Who knew this would happen, and when? Did Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure fail to consider the harm these price controls would inflict on seniors? It’s hard to believe that government agencies would support legislation without forecasting its effects, right? Yet both Becerra and Brooks-LaSure were among the loudest voices backing the IRA’s price control provisions.

It falls down to one of two options:

1. Our elected officials and their appointments are so completely incompetent that they can’t even realize the policy “treatment” they shove down our throats is actually poison.

Or, 2. They don’t care and are using seniors as pawns to reshape our medical system and score political points.

Either one of these two paints a grim picture for America.