Plus, recommendations to modernize the African Growth and Opportunity Act and addressing the burden of Medicare premiums.
February 17, 2024 Editor's note: Thank you for reading the Brookings Brief. We're going on a short hiatus for the Presidents' Day holiday in the United States. Look out for the next edition of the newsletter on Tuesday, February 20. | The loss of Russia's most courageous opposition figure Alexei Navalny's death amid increasingly repressive moves from the Kremlin means that there is no opposition leader left in Russia. "We are now entering an era that resembles the Stalin years more than anything that followed that dictator's death," warns Angela Stent. | More research and commentary Modernizing AGOA for the 21st century. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is set to expire in 2025 after serving as the cornerstone of the U.S.-African commercial relationship for decades. Witney Schneidman outlines critical issues that should guide the modernization of the legislation. Reducing premiums for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. The Medicare Savings Programs and the Low-Income Subsidy are intended to alleviate the burden of Medicare premiums, but they are not working well. Wendell Primus and Paris Rich Bingham make the case for a new federal program to assist low-income Medicare beneficiaries. | The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars. | |