I have been puzzled about the new law (expected to be passed on Friday) since intercst said that the $2,000 max drug part was “BS.”
Here’s the actual information.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/us/politics/prescription-…
**Beginning next year, insulin co-payments for Medicare recipients would be capped at $35 a month. As of 2024, those with costs high enough to qualify for the program’s “catastrophic coverage” benefit would no longer have to pick up 5 percent of the cost of every prescription. And starting in 2025, out-of-pocket costs for prescription medicines would be capped at $2,000 annually....**
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Because this is so important, I double-checked it.
https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2022/med…
**Part D changes**
**For the first time, out-of-pocket costs for Part D prescription drugs would be capped. Starting in 2025, beneficiaries would not have to pay more than $2,000 a year for their share of Part D drugs.**
**Beginning in January, most vaccines would be free in Medicare.**
**Part D premiums could not increase more than 6 percent a year through at least 2029. The income threshold for beneficiaries to qualify for a subsidy to help pay for Part D out-of-pocket costs would be increased from 135 percent of the federal poverty level ($18,347 for an individual in 2022) to 150 percent ($20,385 for an individual in 2022).**
**Negotiating drug prices**
**The Health and Human Services secretary would be authorized to begin negotiating the prices of 10 high-cost prescription drugs in 2023, and the negotiated prices would go into effect in 2026 for Medicare Part D medications and 2028 for drugs covered under Medicare Part B. The number of drugs whose prices would be negotiated on behalf of Medicare would increase in subsequent years, and by 2029 a total of 60 drugs would be subject to negotiated prices.**
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It appears that the $2,000 maximum is NOT BS, although we will have to wait until 2025. It would be on all drugs, not only catastrophic coverage.
And the revocation of 5% payment on catastrophic coverage drugs is also significant since many cancer drugs are astronomically expensive.
I remember trenchrat, who died of cancer, writing, “The money melts away like ice cream on a hot sidewalk.”
The new bill will be a huge relief to patients. By the same token, it will be very expensive for the federal budget.
Wendy