New $2,000 Medicare Part D Cap Could Reduce Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs for Over One Million Beneficiaries Beginning Next Year, Including Tens of Thousands of Beneficiaries in Most States February 8, 2024 News Release A KFF analysis shows that a new out-of-pocket spending cap in Medicare Part D could translate into savings for well over 1 million beneficiaries when it takes effect next year, including more than 100,000 people each in California, Florida and Texas, based on analyses of drug spending in 2021. The…
Explaining the Prescription Drug Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act January 24, 2023 Issue Brief The Inflation Reduction Act includes several provisions that will lower prescription drug costs for people with Medicare and reduce drug spending by the federal government. This brief summarizes these provisions and discusses the expected effects on people, program spending, and drug prices and innovation.
FAQs about the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program January 31, 2024 Issue Brief The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued initial guidance describing CMS’s plans for implementation of the new Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, which was established by the Inflation Reduction Act. These FAQs address several questions related to Medicare’s drug price negotiation program and how CMS intends to implement the new program, with a focus on the details that apply for 2026, the first year that negotiated prices will be available under this new program.
3 Charts: Medicare Drug Price Negotiations January 31, 2024 News Release Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government for the first time will negotiate directly with drug companies to determine the prices that Medicare will pay for certain high expenditure drugs covered under Medicare Part D (starting in 2026) and Part B (starting in 2028). Part D covers retail prescription…
Medicare Spending on Ozempic and Other GLP-1s Is Skyrocketing March 22, 2024 Blog This policy watch analyzes the latest data on Medicare Part D spending on GLP-1 drugs, initially approved to treat diabetes but in high demand as treatments for obesity, and shows how spending on these drugs has increased substantially in recent years.
Gross Medicare Spending on Ozempic and Other GLP-1s Is Already Skyrocketing – Even Though Medicare Cannot Cover The Drugs for Weight Loss March 23, 2024 News Release A KFF analysis shows that gross total Medicare spending on Ozempic and other similar drugs has increased dramatically in recent years – even though Medicare is explicitly prohibited by law from covering the drugs for obesity. That’s because Medicare now covers the drugs, known as GLP-1s, for other medically accepted…
A New Use for Wegovy Opens the Door to Medicare Coverage for Millions of People with Obesity April 24, 2024 Issue Brief The FDA recently approved a new use for Wegovy, the blockbuster anti-obesity drug, to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke in people with cardiovascular disease who are overweight or obese – a decision that opens the door to Medicare coverage of Wegovy, which is prohibited by law from covering drugs used for obesity. This brief analyses how many Medicare beneficiaries could be eligible for the new use of Wegovy and the potential impact on Medicare spending.
An Estimated 1 in 4 Medicare Beneficiaries With Obesity or Overweight Could Be Eligible for Medicare Coverage of Wegovy, an Anti-Obesity Drug, to Reduce Heart Risk April 24, 2024 News Release In a new analysis, KFF finds that 3.6 million people with Medicare could be eligible for coverage of Wegovy (semaglutide) now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of the anti-obesity drug to reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke in certain patients. This change potentially…