Maine’s seniors have spent a lifetime paying into Medicare, counting on it to provide the affordable, reliable care they deserve in their golden years.

Instead, they now face higher premiums, fewer drug choices and an uncertain future — all thanks to the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Democrats pitched this misleadingly named law as a way to lower costs for working families, but the reality has been anything but.

Thanks to changes the IRA made to Medicare’s “Part D” drug benefit, drug plan premiums skyrocketed 21% from 2023 to 2024 while the number of available prescription drug plans shrank by 12%. Looking ahead, experts warn that in 2026, millions of Part D enrollees will pay more out-of-pocket for critical medicines because of the IRA.

To paper over these failures, the Biden administration scrambled to push through a $7 billion insurer bailout right before the election — a move some say may have been unlawful. Yet even that costly maneuver won’t stop the pain since experts project that Part D premiums will keep rising.

These changes to Medicare weren’t just unfortunate policy blunders — they were a means to an end. The IRA deliberately siphoned funds from Medicare to help bankroll a trillion-dollar green energy initiative that benefit special interests.

In other words, while Maine seniors pinch pennies to cover rising health care costs, the IRA hands billions of dollars to electric vehicle makers, solar panel companies and industries that don’t need government handouts.

Here in Maine, the stakes couldn’t be higher. With the highest percentage of residents aged 65 and older in the nation, rising premiums hit our population particularly hard. Many of our parents and grandparents live on fixed incomes, and when health care costs climb, they’re the ones left deciding whether to fill a prescription or keep the heat on through the winter.

Rural hospitals and clinics, already stretched thin, are feeling the squeeze, too. Studies show that the IRA’s price control provisions will leave these providers with fewer resources to care for patients. This is no shock: Mainers across the state know that when Augusta or Washington start piling on regulations, it’s the little guy who ends up paying the price.

But the damage doesn’t stop there. The IRA is also slamming the brakes on medical innovation.

One of the law’s worst provisions is the so-called “pill penalty.” Under this rule, newly approved small-molecule drugs — typically pills that can be taken at home — are only exempt from government price negotiations for seven years, while biologic drugs (which are more complex and often injectable) get 11 years.

There’s no scientific reason for this disparity, but the consequences are clear. Drug companies, faced with a shorter window to recoup development costs, are shifting investment away from pills and toward biologics. That means fewer new oral medications for conditions like cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders.

The broader impact is alarming. Experts say the IRA’s pill penalty could mean nearly 200 fewer new small molecule treatments over the next 20 years.

Congress has a real opportunity to turn things around, and the Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act is a strong first step. The bill would eliminate the pill penalty, ensuring life-saving treatments aren’t buried in bureaucracy before they leave the lab.

Maine has always valued practical solutions, and we need leaders in Washington to stand up for our seniors.

Our senior senator, Susan Collins, has long worked to ensure Mainers get quality health care. The EPIC Act is a smart, targeted way to fix the unintended consequences of the IRA and keep Medicare sustainable.

Given the urgency of these issues, reintroducing the EPIC Act in this Congress and ensuring it’s part of the upcoming reconciliation package would be a crucial step toward protecting patient access to life-saving medicines.

Seniors in Maine and across the country deserve a Medicare program that works for them, not against them. Fixing the IRA is step one. Supporting the EPIC Act is a no-brainer and something that Sen. Collins and other common-sense lawmakers should have no problem getting behind.