President Joe Biden is proposing a plan to raise the Medicare tax on high-income Americans and push for additional drug price negotiations to fund the program through 2050.
The plan would raise the tax from 3.8 percent to 5 for those earning above $400,000 per year. The proposal is a bid to get Republicans on board with a 2024 budget bill.
"Millions of Americans have been working their whole lives, paying into Medicare with every working day, and want to know that they can count on Medicare to be there for them when they turn 65," the White House said in a statement. "The President’s Budget extends the life of the Medicare Trust Fund by at least 25 years. It achieves these gains with no benefit cuts—indeed, while lowering costs for Medicare beneficiaries.
The proposal also calls for closing loopholes in existing Medicare taxes and leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) authority to negotiate prices for high-cost drugs.
The president is set to release his full budget plan on Thursday. Medicare and Social Security account one-third of federal spending, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Concerns about their future solvency are a perennial concern in Congress.
Saying gender identity is real, a federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, ruling Tuesday that the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment.
With concerns about misinformation spreading online, European Union officials want to more closely regulate artificial intelligence, and they're asking the world's biggest tech companies for help.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, Ed Markey, and Mazie Hirono sent a letter to top officials at Twitter expressing their concerns over the platform's privacy policy.
The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao are accused of misusing investor funds, operating as an unregistered exchange and violating a slew of U.S. securities laws in a lawsuit filed by the SEC.
A top EU official said companies should roll out the technology to recognize AI-generated content and "clearly label[s] this to users."
With the rail industry relying on longer and longer trains to cut costs, the Biden administration is handing out $570 million in grants to help eliminate many railroad crossings in 32 states.
A judge ruled that the Tennessee law restricting drag performances in public or where children are present is unconstitutional.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) said more than 5,300 postal employees were attacked by dogs while delivering mail in 2022. To spread awareness of this problem, the agency has launched a public service campaign called National Dog Bite Awareness Week.
It took a unilateral step Sunday to support the sagging cost of crude after two earlier cuts by other OPEC+ countries failed to push prices higher.
Nurse practitioners, who provided care for many trans adults, are now barred from providing transition-related care in the state.
