This month, millions of seniors will take advantage of the Medicare open enrollment period, shopping for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans which suit their needs and budgets.

It’s one of the benefits of the competitive Medicare Part D and other associated Medicare programs’ structures – patients can choose coverage which works for them.

For instance, seniors requiring less coverage can shop for less expensive plans, while seniors with more significant or unique needs can choose plans offering greater and custom coverage. Seniors can shop around for the best plans for the best price.

But this choice and competition are under threat from recent healthcare proposals introduced by Democrats in the House of Representatives. These proposals mirror other, Democratic plans which use socialist policies like Medicare for All.

One bill, H.R. 3, originated with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and would effectively import socialist policies, price controls and interventions into our healthcare system, restricting choice for patients and reducing medical innovation.

Both parties share the goal of reducing healthcare costs, but Speaker Pelosi has turned to harmful, socialist policies.

The House Democrats’ proposal has three central tenants: first, cap domestic drug prices for consumers by pegging them to what is known as an ‘International Pricing Index,’ or IPI; second, mandate direct negotiation between the government and private business; and, third, severely tax private businesses which cannot accept government price controls by up to 95 percent.

The sum total of these actions would reduce research and the development of new cures and drastically increase government control of the healthcare sector, leading to rationed or reduced care for all.

Let’s break it down.

By capping prices based upon an ‘International Price Index,’ the plan distorts the market for pharmaceutical drugs, eliminating the competitive forces which bring new or improved cures to market and bring down costs. For example, when a breakthrough Hepatitis C cure entered the market, the price resulted in considerable sticker shock. In subsequent years, while the price naturally fell it was further reduced when a competitive cure entered the market.

This is how the free market works, by creating a competitive environment, patients were better served by a new cure and prices went down. Speaker Pelosi’s plan would eliminate this market and these incentives.

It’s important to note that Speaker Pelosi’s plan goes further to eliminate incentives to innovate. Her plan requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to directly negotiate with drug companies to set the price of prescription drugs, using the IPI price as a ceiling, leveraging the government’s buying power to force a deal.

Worse still, for companies which cannot accept the negotiated price, the plan imposes a tax of up to 95 percent.

Essentially, the government is forcing private business to choose between significant losses from an undervalued product, or even more significant losses from a punitive tax.

For patients, this results in fewer drugs available, as companies must slow research and development or delay introducing new cures. It’s why 95 percent of cancer drugs launched from 2011 to 2018 are available in the United States while only 74, 49 and eight percent are available the U.K., Japan and Greece, respectively.

Under a socialized system, patients lose. And, even worse, because America leads in medical innovation, the world loses.

According to the Milken Institute, by 2010, the United States nearly doubled its innovative dominance from 1990 to 2010, capturing an astonishing 57 percent of the global market. One of the key drivers of this success was European and Asian countries adopting socialist systems like Medicare-for-All.

It’s notable, therefore that our own Congressional Budget Office flagged this concern in its score of the bill. The CBO cautioned that, in their estimate, H.R. 3 would, “ lead to a reduction of approximately 8 to 15 new drugs coming to market over the next 10 years.” These are cures which could mean life and death for families not just in America but across the world.

As seniors look to choose new Medicare plans, they do so in the best country in the world to receive care. Speaker Pelosi’s plan would end that.