Prescription Drugs

This landing page represents the abstract of a paper published in JAMA. The full text of the article is available at: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820562.Abstract

Effective January 1, 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) eliminated cost sharing and deductibles for adult vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) covered under Medicare Part D. In 2023, 10.3 million Medicare Part D enrollees received a recommended vaccine free of charge, which saved enrollees more than $400 million in out-of-pocket costs.

Drug shortages are a persistent problem that can cause substantial disruption in patient treatment regimens and adversely impact a patient’s health. Drug shortages can have severe consequences for patients, including high costs, delayed care, and potential medication errors or unintended side effects when using alternative or unfamiliar drugs.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is helping people with Medicare, including nearly 30 million women enrolled in Part D. Our review shows that, in 2020, about 733,000 women enrolled in Part D and B would have benefited from the IRA’s $35 insulin cap and, in 2021, about 2 million women would not have had any out-of-pocket costs for recommended adult vaccines covered by Part D.

In 2022, 43.3 million Medicare Part D enrollees (82 percent) filled 1.1 billion prescriptions for generic prescription drugs. While most enrollees filled at least one prescription for $2 or less, most (54 percent) paid more than $2 for at least one generic drug. Over 6 million enrollees filled at least one prescription for over $20.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is helping people with Medicare, including over 8 million Part D enrollees who reside in rural areas. This fact sheet outlines the potential impacts of the IRA’s key drug-related provisions for rural Medicare enrollees.

The Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) expanded financial assistance in Medicare’s Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) Program would have benefited nearly 461,000 Partial LIS enrollees had the provision been in effect in 2020. An additional 2.9 million Part D enrollees who were eligible but not enrolled in LIS would also have benefited from the program.

ASPE contracted with RAND Health Care to carry out three studies analyzing data on U.S. prescription drug prices and availability in comparison to drug prices and availability in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In 2022, U.S. prices across all drugs (brands and generics) were nearly 2.78 times as high as prices in the comparison countries. U.S.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes provisions to increase accessibility and affordability of prescription drugs for the 65 million Medicare beneficiaries, reduce the rate of growth in Medicare drug spending, and improve the financial sustainability of the Medicare program. These IRA provisions include a rebate on certain Part B and D drug prices if prices rise faster than inflation.