2023 Spring GAPNA Newsletter Volume 42 Number 1

Medicare Recipients Benefit from Inflation Reduction Act

President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to avail Medicare beneficiaries. One of the main focuses of the act is to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies which lowers prescription drug costs. Brand-name and biologic drugs covered under Medicare Part D or Part B years away from FDA approval are eligible for negotiation.

Another provision is if drug manufacturers increase prices faster than inflation for drugs used by Medicare recipients, they must pay rebates. The prices of half of the drugs covered by Medicare from 2019 to 2020 increased above the inflation rate.

The new act also lowers out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare recipients by adding a $2,000 cap on spending. This is important for those with critical conditions such as cancer who take expensive specialty drugs since many medicines are high-priced and well over the $2,000 cap.

Read more about the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act, including some financial relief for insulin users.

Source:
Cubanski, J., Neuman, T., & Freed, M. (2023). How will the prescription drug provisions in the inflation reduction act affect Medicare beneficiaries? https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/how-will-the-prescription-drug-provisions-in-the-inflation…