Thanks to @potus and Congressional Democrats, huge drug savings for Americans:
-Negotiate lower prices
-Cap on annual out-of-pocket drug costs
-Lower insulin prices
-Free vaccines (shingles, etc)
Read more, free link: https://t.co/JUPj9lVsYW— Chris Mehl (@ChrisMehl7) May 1, 2024
… Here are six things to look for:
1) Drug price negotiation. For the first time in history, Medicare can now negotiate directly with manufacturers. For the initial round of negotiations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chose 10 drugs that treat common health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis…
2) A cap on out-of-pocket spending. While the IRA’s price negotiation provision has garnered the lion’s share of media attention, this change will have the most direct consequence for most seniors. In 2025, everyone with Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, called Part D, will pay no more than $2,000 per year out of pocket for medications.
3) Lower prices for insulin. This provision has already been implemented. The IRA capped the cost of insulin at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries, allowing about 4 million seniors with diabetes to save around $761 million per year.This change has resulted in a welcome “spillover effect,” with at least three major drugmakers voluntarily agreeing to cut their insulin prices for people with private insurance outside of Medicare.
4) Free vaccines. This has also already been implemented: All adult vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are now free for everyone with Medicare Part D…
5) Inflation penalty for drug manufacturers. A lesser-known but also noteworthy change is that drug companies now have to pay a rebate to Medicare if they increase prices faster than inflation. Those rebates will transfer to consumers, saving as much as $3,500 per dose in the next year, CMS reports…
6) Extra help for the most vulnerable. The IRA provides an income-based subsidy for Medicare enrollees. This, Brooks-LaSure said, is the least understood and least utilized aspect of the IRA’s prescription drug reforms.
The reason is because, unlike the other provisions, people need to actively opt into the program to benefit. But for people who depend on Social Security benefits and do not have other sources of income, she told me, the program “can result in significant savings — on average, a couple of hundred dollars a year.”…
With evidence that thousands of patients become so ill that they skip doses or stop taking the drugs — risking resurgence of their cancers — the FDA has begun requiring companies to pinpoint the right dosage before drugs reach patients. https://t.co/2FtGJwTLAi
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 4, 2024
Gift link for this one:
… Cancer drug trials are structured to promote high doses, which then become routine patient care. With evidence that thousands of patients become so ill that they skip doses or stop taking the drugs — risking resurgence of their cancers — the FDA has begun requiring companies to pinpoint the right dosage before drugs reach patients.
Sunday Evening Open Thread: Some Hopeful Healthcare NewsPost + Comments (16)