The Biden administration recently announced savings on 43 prescription drugs as part of their cost-saving measures under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a list of 43 prescription medications for which members of Medicare Part B may pay lesser coinsurance between July 1 and Sept. 30, according to a June 9 news release. Prescription drug cost reduction is a top goal for Biden.
“Thanks to President Biden’s new lower cost prescription drug law — the Inflation Reduction Act — manufacturers of qualifying drugs must pay rebates to Medicare if the price of those drugs increases at a rate faster than the rate of inflation," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the release. "Medicare now has the authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for the first time. The research announced today reinforces that President Biden’s new law is helping control drug spending while making sure seniors and people with disabilities can afford the medications they need.”
A second analysis from HHS was also made public, according to the release. It examines patterns that led to increases in Medicare Part B coverage costs before President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act.
Among other initiatives to minimize health care expenses for millions of American families, the Inflation Reduction Act seeks to reduce the cost of prescription medications, which drives up health care costs for millions of elderly and people with disabilities, the release reported. Out-of-pocket Part B prescription expenses are already declining because to the Inflation Reduction Act.
Manufacturers are compelled by the new law to give Medicare a rebate if a drug's price rises faster than the rate of inflation, the release said. For the rebates due to Medicare in 2023 and 2024, CMS plans to deliver the first invoices to manufacturers in 2025.
For 43 medications, whose costs increased faster than the rate of inflation in a reference quarter, certain Medicare Part B beneficiaries may have to pay a smaller coinsurance, according to the release.
Depending on their particular coverage, people who take these medications could save between $1 and $449 per typical dose between July 1 and Sept. 30, the release said. Medicare is permitted to directly negotiate drug pricing for a limited number of pharmaceuticals under the new measure to cut the cost of prescription drugs.
Drugs from Part B may be eligible for price negotiations beginning in 2026 for rates to take effect in 2028. The expenditures of the Medicare program could be reduced by these proposals, according to the release.
