Retired and on Medicare? Brace for Big Drug Price Hikes

Buried deep inside this year’s federal tax and budget law is a change that could mean much higher costs for nearly 20 expensive medications.

An analysis by KFF (formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation) found modifications to Medicare’s drug price negotiation program will delay or eliminate cost-saving negotiations on a number of medications, including:

• Keytruda and 10 other drugs prescribed to treat cancer.
• Adempas, prescribed for pulmonary hypertension.
• Epidiolex prescribed to prevent seizures.

Find the full list on MoneyTalksNews.

For patients, the impact could be significant. The most expensive drug on the list, Keytruda, costs about $12,600 per treatment, or $76,100 per year per patient. Under standard 20% Medicare Part B coverage, that means roughly $15,000 a year in out-of-pocket costs for the typical patient.

If you take one of these drugs, now is the time to talk with your doctor about options. And if you’re new to Medicare, MoneyTalksNews offers a quick primer: 8 Things Most People Don’t Know About Medicare.

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