US President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Thursday, December 14, 2023.
Chris Kleponis | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Biden administration said Wednesday it will impose inflation penalties on 64 prescription drugs in the third quarter of this year, lowering the cost of enrolling in Medicare for some older Americans.
President Joe Biden has made lowering U.S. drug prices a key pillar of his health care agenda and 2024 re-election platform. Terms Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act would require drugmakers to pay rebates to Medicare, the federal health program for Americans over 65, if drug prices rise faster than inflation.
It is separate from another provision of the law that allows Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices with manufacturers. On average, Americans Pay two to three times more The Biden administration says prescription drug use is higher than among patients in other developed countries.
Some patients will pay lower coinsurance rates for 64 drugs announced Wednesday that fall under Medicare Part B, from July 1 to Sept. 30, “as every drug company raises prices faster than Inflation rate”. to the government for release.
The release added that some Medicare Part B patients could save up to $4,593 per day if they take these drugs this quarter.
More than 750,000 Medicare patients use these drugs each year, according to the news release. These drugs treat cancer, certain infections, and bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
“Without the Inflation Reduction Act, seniors were entirely at risk from Big Pharma’s price increases. That is no longer the case,” White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said in a press release.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to send the first invoices to drugmakers in 2025 to cover the program’s rebates.
December, Biden published a list There are 48 prescription drugs that will be subject to inflation penalties in the first quarter of 2024.
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