Biden Administration Is Urging Medicare to Reconsider Its Premium Increase. Here’s Why?
As Biogen has reduced the price of Alzheimer’s medicine Aduhelm by half, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra stated today that the federal government should “reevaluate” the huge looming increase in Medicare rates that would cover physician and outpatient care beginning in 2022.
What it means and why it matters: The historically high Medicare premium hike, which occurred during the midterm election year, was largely attributable to the high cost of Aduhelm’s services.
However, Becerra is now requesting that Medicare consider lowering the premium hike, just days before Medicare is expected to make a preliminary decision on whether or not Aduhelm’s poor clinical data merits coverage at all.
