Further US Medicare drug price negotiations

The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) has released new research showing how key Inflation Reduction Act provisions will lower costs for women enrolled in Medicare, including nearly 30 million women enrolled in Part D.

Also, the HHS announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) responded to counteroffers from all manufacturers participating in Medicare drug price negotiations – which the Inflation Reduction Act made possible – and invited them to participate in further discussions.

The ASPE findings show that in 2020, about 733,000 women enrolled in Medicare Part D and Part B would have benefited from the Inflation Reduction Act’s $35 per month cap on cost sharing for Medicare-covered insulin products, and, in 2021, about two million women would not have had any out-of-pocket costs for their recommended Part D covered adult vaccines. Because of the law’s redesign of the Medicare Part D benefit, about 857,000 women who are not enrolled in the Extra Help program are projected to save $1,000 or more in 2025.