Medicare mulls rebates in 2025 for drug prices rising faster than inflation
designer491

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Medicare will start collecting rebates from drugmakers in 2025 when they raise prescription drug prices faster than the inflation rate.
ââ¦..Drug companies that increase their prices faster than the rate of inflation will have to pay rebates back to the Medicare Trust Fund,â HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday, announcing the initial guidance of the program.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began examining the price increases in October 2022 for Medicare Part D and Part B drugs. In 2025, it will start sending invoices, seeking rebates where necessary. 
The companies that fail to pay rebates will be imposed a penalty as high as 125% of the rebate amount.
From April, Medicare recipients will have to bear lower out-of-pocket costs for certain Part B drugs with price hikes higher than inflation.
HHS expects to issue a revised guidance after considering public comments received until Mar. 11.
Major drugmakers: Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Eli Lilly (LLY), AstraZeneca (AZN), GSK (GSK), Sanofi (SNY) (OTCPK:SNYNF), Novo Nordisk (NVS), Sanofi (SNY) (OTCPK:SNYNF), Abbott (ABT), AbbVie (ABBV), Gilead (GILD), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Biogen (BIIB), Amgen (AMGN) and Moderna (MRNA)
The provision came into effect as part of President Bidenâs Inflation Reduction Act which, among other measures, allowed Medicare to negotiate prices for Part B and Part D drugs for the first time.