HHS Reevaluation Of Medicare Part B Premiums Coming Soon, Courtney Announces

Statement

In case you missed it yesterday, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is actively reassessing Medicare Part B premiums for 2022--and that a decision on a reduction in cost for seniors could come as soon as next month. The Secretary's remarks come following calls led by Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02) and others in January that HHS should reevaluate its previously announced Medicare Part B premium hike in light of the sharp and sudden reduction in cost of a new Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm.

Courtney argued that the drastic price reduction for Aduhelm by its manufacturer from $56,000 to $28,200 per year warranted a complete review of CMS actuarial data to determine whether the Medicare Part B premium hike could be blunted immediately, in 2022. He was joined in a letter to Secretary Becerra by thirty-one other Members of Congress, and penned an op-ed for The Hill newspaper titled, The Driving Force Behind Medicare Part B's Price Increase Was Blunted--the Price Hike Should Be, Too. Now, that's exactly what HHS is working to accomplish.

On Thursday, Secretary Becerra stated that plans for reassessing Medicare Part B premiums for 2022 will be coming soon, and that the department is exploring readjusting premiums as soon as next month to ensure seniors don't pay more than necessary after the price reduction of Aduhelm.

"The Medicare Part B premium hike has caused a lot of problems for our senior citizens and their families, but new information means that the price increase might not even be needed--the driving force behind it was the cost of Aduhelm, and the drug manufacturer has since cut the price in half," said Rep. Courtney. "Secretary Becerra deserves credit for being on the ball and on top of this from the jump--he and his team were in sync with our recommendation to reassess the Part B price hike from the very start, and they've continued working with CMS actuaries to make sure our seniors aren't paying more than they have to. Now they need to deliver--there's no way seniors can be expected to overcome this sort of rate increase when the rationale for it is no longer there. I will keep working across the aisle to make sure seniors get the right result."

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