U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra is ordering Medicare to reassess a big premium increase facing millions of seniors this year
The standard Part B premium is rising by about $22 this year, up from $148.50 in 2021 and one of the biggest annual increases ever. About half of that, $11, was attributed to the potential costs of having to cover Aduhelm at its original $56,000 price.
In announcing the price cut just days before the Christmas holidays, Biogen acknowledged the high cost had become a stumbling block to uptake for its medication. A month after approving a controversial new Alzheimer’s drug, the FDA has signed off on new prescribing instructions to limit its use to only patients with early or mild cases of the disease. The acting head of the FDA, Dr. Janet Woodcock, also announced that she was ordering an investigation into whether the agency acted improperly in approving the medication.
Usually the financial impact of high-cost drugs falls most directly on patients with serious diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis. But with Aduhelm, the pain would be spread among Medicare recipients generally, not just Alzheimer’s patients needing the drug.
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