It's Groundhog Day for Medicare Part B drug manufacturers.
On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) dropped its latest list of drugs capped by inflation rebates. From April 1 to June 30, 41 drugs that will have a lower coinsurance rate if a drug company raises prices quicker than the rate of inflation.
Expected to impact nearly three-quarters of a million people, some people could save up to $3,575 per average dose through the Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program, according to a news release.
“Thanks to President Biden’s lower cost prescription drug law, the cost of prescription drugs is coming down for people with Medicare. We are putting money back in the pockets of older Americans and people with disabilities instead of Big Pharma,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will invoice drug companies for rebates by fall 2025, where funds will then be deposited in the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.
Drugs included in this round include argatroban, a medication to treat heparin bleeding complications and fosaprepitant, an injection to prevent nausea in adults receiving chemotherapy treatments.
Last year, the Biden administration periodically unveiled similar lists of drugs to be protected from price increases exceeding inflation. The administration said 64 drugs increased faster than inflation, and it released a list of nearly 50 drugs for January 2024 until the end of March.