Much as people don't like to think of Medicare that way, Medicare itself is an institution with an enormous degree of influence. Medicare is arguably even more

Much as people don't like to think of Medicare that way, Medicare itself is an institution with an enormous degree of influence. Medicare is arguably even more powerful than private insurers, because it's both the single largest and also one that receives a lot of special protections in law that private insurers don't. Currently, Medicare is able to balance its own books regardless of any increases or decreases to its tax revenue, because they can set the prices they pay unilaterally, with no mandate to cover their own costs (which is why they already don't cover their own costs). Any decreases in revenue purchasing power, whether due to tax cuts, budget cuts, or inflation, they simply lower their own reimbursement rates, and eventually private insurers will be forced to cover that difference. Medicare - and those who benefit from posturing themselves as supporters of Medicare politically[0] - would frame price transparency as cuts to Medicare. It's not really a cut to Medidcare's revenue; it'd be a reduction in their ability to reduce costs by extracting money from private insurers, but the latter doesn't really roll off the tongue, so they'd be pretty successful in messaging it as "cuts to Medicare". [0] which is not the same as people who actually benefit from Medicare or supporting Medicare, as we already know.