Seniors on Medicare will pay less for dozens of drugs in the near future, the federal government announced on June 26.
The cost of 64 drugs available through Medicare Part B will be lower starting July 1 under a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act. The reduced prices will be in place until at least Sept. 30.
The Inflation Reduction Act established a program that requires companies to pay a rebate if they raise the prices of certain drugs faster than the rate of inflation.
Companies producing Abilify Maintena, a treatment for schizophrenia; Evenity, used by women with osteoporosis; and Padcev, a drug that treats bladder cancer, are among those that raised their prices enough to outpace inflation, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That means these drugs are among the 64 that will soon have lower prices for Medicare recipients.
“These drugs will help close to a million Medicare patients save thousands of dollars,” White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden said during a prepared speech in Washington on Wednesday at the Center for American Progress, a think tank she headed before transitioning to the White House.
Medicare patients who receive the drugs could save as much as $4,953 per day, depending on the medications they’re taking.
Administration officials said that the rebate program showed that President Joe Biden is delivering on his promise to lower the prices of drugs.
“Everyone should be able to afford their medication, and the Inflation Reduction Act continues to deliver on this goal to improve affordability,” Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in a statement.
The program started in 2023 and has already resulted in reduced prices for 59 drugs for Medicare Part B enrollees, according to the White House.
The analysis of prices against inflation is conducted every quarter. Some of the drugs with reduced prices in the quarter starting on July 1 are the same drugs with reduced prices in the previous quarter.
Former President Donald Trump also targeted drug costs while in office, including issuing an executive order that required Medicare to pay no more for certain drugs than other countries do. He has stated that he will work to reduce drug costs if he is elected again this year.
Medicare provides health insurance for people who are aged 65 or above. Some younger people with disabilities are eligible as well.
More than 67 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare, according to the government.
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