New Savings for Medicare Part B Beneficiaries Announced After Rep. Courtney's Year-Long Effort Prevails

Press Release

Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will officially lower costs for Medicare Part B beneficiaries in 2023. The update comes after CMS's release of 2023 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles, which notes that Medicare Part B beneficiaries will see a 3% reduction in monthly premium costs and a 3% reduction in their deductibles starting in January 2023. The price reduction is a sharp reversal from the price hike that beneficiaries saw in 2022, and it represents the first lowered premium for Medicare Part B beneficiaries in a decade, since 2011.

These reduced costs are being delivered following Rep. Courtney's effort to compel CMS to re-evaluate its 2022 Medicare Part B price hike, which was brought on by the skyrocketing price of a new Alzheimer's drug called Aduhelm. After the price of Aduhelm was subsequently cut in half by its manufacturer, Courtney began pressing U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to re-evaluate 14.5% Medicare Part B premium hike--which was the largest in the history of the program. Now, these savings will be returned to Medicare Part B beneficiaries throughout the year in 2023, and they'll compliment other new forms of lowered costs for seniors and families.

"Seniors who rely on Medicare Part B haven't seen a lowered premium rate in ten years--this is a great win for them, and it's a complete one-eighty from the price hike we fought back against in 2022," said Rep. Courtney. "The Medicare Part B price increase announced in November 2021 couldn't have come at a worse time, and we've been working ever since then to get it reversed--especially after we found out that the driving force behind the increase wound up being blunted. Shifting the rudder over at CMS isn't a small task, but we kept at it, and now these lowered costs are going to mean savings for seniors throughout 2023. Coupled with other new forms of lowered costs through bills like the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as with a new COLA adjustment coming up soon, these reduced premiums will really add to the mosaic of cost savings that Congress has authorized for seniors and families moving forward."

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