In 2025, seniors will pay less for 64 medications if they get them through Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient care, including drugs that are administered at a doctor’s office.
The price reductions are a result of a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act, a federal law created in 2022.
The provision, called the Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program, lowers coinsurance costs for certain drugs if drug companies raise the prices of those drugs faster than the inflation rate.
So, the 64 drugs will have a lower Part B coinsurance between Jan. 1 and March 31 because drug companies raised prices on these medications by more than the increase in inflation.
Each year, more than 853,000 people on Medicare use at least one of the 64 medications, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the division of the federal government that runs the Medicare program.
Lower coinsurance costs aren’t the only way the Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program penalizes drug companies for excessive price hikes. The program also requires companies to pay a rebate to CMS when their price hikes for certain drugs exceed inflation.
The money that is rebated goes into the trust fund for Medicare Part B and Part D, so it will “help ensure the long-term sustainability of the Medicare program for future generations,” CMS said.
CMS also notes that since April 2023, more than 120 drugs have been available to Medicare enrollees at a lower cost thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program.
The drugs covered by Medicare Part B that will see lower costs through March 31 are:
- Abecma
- Adcetris
- Akynzeo Capsule
- Atgam
- Aveed
- Berinert
- Bicillin
- Bicillin
- Blincyto
- Breyanzi
- Brixadi (monthly dosing)
- Brixadi (weekly dosing)
- Carvykti
- Chirhostim
- Cresemba
- Crysvita
- Cyclophosphamide (Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories)
- Digifab
- Elfabrio
- Envarsus
- Evenity
- Folotyn
- Fosaprepitant
- Fragmin
- Fyarro
- Gemcitabine (Accord)
- Hizentra
- Imlygic
- Ixempra
- Kepivance
- Krystexxa
- Kymriah
- Kyprolis
- Leukine
- Lupron Depot-Ped
- Meropenem (B. Braun)
- Minocin
- Nexterone (Baxter)
- Nipent
- Nplate
- Oncaspar
- Padcev
- Panhematin
- Prolia
- Qalsody
- Rezzayo
- Rybrevant
- Rylaze
- Signifor Lar
- Sotalol (Altathera)
- Sylvant
- Talvey
- Tecartus
- Tecvayli
- Tigan
- Tivdak
- Tnkase
- Vectibix
- Vyepti
- Vyxeos
- Xiaflex
- Yescarta
- Zerbaxa
- Zoladex
To learn about other ways in which the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has lowered drug prices, check out “5 Ways Medicare Will Change Under the New Law.”