U.S. government sets penalties on 43 drugs over price hikes
09/06/2023 13:30
By Patrick Wingrove
June 9 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday
announced it would impose inflation penalties on 43 drugs for
the third quarter of 2023, having fined 27 earlier this year, in
a move it said would lower costs for older Americans by as much
as $449 per dose.
Drugmakers hiked the price of these 43 drugs by more than
the rate of inflation and are required to pay the difference of
those medicines to Medicare, the federal health program for
Americans over age 65.
"People taking 43 of these drugs could pay less (in
coinsurance) to access these important treatments, starting July
1," Dr. Meena Seshamani, director for Medicare at the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) told reporters.
The Medicare agency plans to send the first invoices to
drugmakers in 2025 for the rebates owed to Medicare this year
and for 2024.
President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act
(IRA) includes a provision that penalizes drugmakers for
charging prices that rise faster than inflation for people on
Medicare.
Biden announced in March that his administration would
subject 27 drugs to inflation fines for the second quarter of
this year. The new list of 43 replaces that selection for the
third quarter of 2023.
The list of drugs facing the inflation penalty for the third
quarter includes – for the second time – AbbVie's (ABBV.N)
blockbuster arthritis drug Humira and Seagen's (SGEN.O) targeted
cancer therapy Padcev, the White House said in a fact sheet.
(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove; Editing by Sonali Paul)
((Patrick.Wingrove@thomsonreuters.com))