New cures for hepatitis C are helping Medicare beneficiaries live longer, healthier lives. It is disingenuous to look at Medicare spending on these treatments without considering the substantial rebates and competition in the program [“Medicare spending for hepatitis C drugs surges,” news, Oct. 18].
Competition and robust negotiation in Medicare Part D are controlling costs. Private plans command steep discounts on prescription prices under Part D, including groundbreaking cures for hepatitis C. In fact, additional treatment options approved in the past year led to competition-generated savings for a variety of payers, including Medicare. Average rebates on some of these products increased from 22 percent in 2014 to 46 percent in 2015. Average rebate levels in Part D have increased each year of the program. Even the 2015 Medicare trustees report that rebates are substantial.
Moreover, researchers at Harvard University suggest new hepatitis C therapies may generate cost savings for the health-care system over the long run. Medicare is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these savings, as beneficiaries remain in the program once they become eligible.
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Showing posts with label Medicare Part D. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medicare Part D. Show all posts
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
New hepatitis C drugs are costing Medicare billions
Medicare spent $4.5 billion last year on new, pricey medications that cure the liver disease hepatitis C — more than 15 times what it spent the year before on older treatments for the disease, previously undisclosed federal data shows.
The extraordinary outlays for these breakthrough drugs, which can cost $1,000 a day or more, will be borne largely by federal taxpayers, who pay for most of Medicare’s prescription drug program. But the expenditures will also mean higher deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket costs for many of the program’s 39 million seniors and disabled enrollees, who pay a smaller share of its cost, experts and federal officials said.
The spending dwarfs the approximately $286 million that the program, known as Part D, spent on earlier-generation hepatitis C drugs in 2013, said Sean Cavanaugh, director of Medicare and deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Read more...
The extraordinary outlays for these breakthrough drugs, which can cost $1,000 a day or more, will be borne largely by federal taxpayers, who pay for most of Medicare’s prescription drug program. But the expenditures will also mean higher deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket costs for many of the program’s 39 million seniors and disabled enrollees, who pay a smaller share of its cost, experts and federal officials said.
The spending dwarfs the approximately $286 million that the program, known as Part D, spent on earlier-generation hepatitis C drugs in 2013, said Sean Cavanaugh, director of Medicare and deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Read more...
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