Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Premiums Jump Because Of Alzheimer's Drug
Bloomberg: Costly Alzheimer’s Drug Fuels Record Medicare Premium Hike
The standard monthly premium for Medicare outpatient, or “Part B,” coverage, will be $170.10 in 2022, up from $148.50 in 2021, senior Biden administration officials said Friday. The $21.60 increase is the largest annual dollar-amount rate hike ever for Part B coverage, while the 14.5% increase is the third-largest percentage increase since 2007. (Pugh, 11/12)
The Hill: Medicare Premiums To Jump In Part Due To Pricey Alzheimer's Drug
Seniors on Medicare will have to pay more than $20 more per month extra in premiums next year, a large increase that officials in part attributed to possible coverage of a pricey and controversial new Alzheimer's drug. The Biden administration announced Friday that the monthly premium for Medicare Part B, which covers services like doctors office visits, will increase by $21.60, from $148.50 in 2021 to $170.10 in 2022. Officials said that is one of the largest increases in recent years. (Sullivan, 11/12)
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Premiums Will See Big Increase In 2022
Medicare members' monthly premiums for physician and outpatient services will increase nearly 15% in 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a news release Friday. The agency attributed the increases to rising healthcare prices driven by COVID-19-related care, lawmakers' moves to lower 2021 premiums during the pandemic and the potential for pricey drugs like Biogen's Aduhelm to receive coverage. (Tepper and Goldman, 11/12)
In other Medicare news —
Modern Healthcare: Biden Repeals Trump-Era Medicare 'Breakthrough' Coverage Policy
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized its decision Friday to repeal a rule that would have created an expedited Medicare coverage pathway for medical devices considered "breakthrough technology." The rule, originally finalized in the last days of the Trump administration, would have allowed Medicare to cover devices deemed "breakthrough" by the Food and Drug Administration for four years once they received market authorization. Medicare beneficiaries can currently get breakthrough devices covered through other methods, like a national coverage determination, but this would have sped the process. (Goldman, 11/12)
Also —
KHN: Journalists Offer Primers On Medicare Open Enrollment And Death Benefits Amid Covid
KHN contributing writer and former columnist Michelle Andrews discussed on Newsy on Tuesday how unvaccinated workers risk losing the death benefits they would have otherwise received if they die of covid-19. KHN chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed Medicare open enrollment on WBUR-NPR’s “Here & Now” on Monday. She also discussed covid vaccines for children on WAMU-NPR’s “1A” on Nov. 5. (11/13)
