WASHINGTON, DC – August 15, 2024 – On August 15^th, the Biden administration announced the results of negotiations between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and pharmaceutical companies over the price of ten expensive and commonly prescribed medicines. The discounts range from about 40 to 80% of last year’s cost. The bargaining process took almost 1 year to complete. The new prices will begin on January 1, 2026.

Drug cost negotiation is one of the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) that will make health care more affordable for seniors. The government sought to obtain the lowest maximum fair price while allowing the drug companies to make a profit. The Inflation Reduction Act allows 30 more medicines to be selected over the next 2 years for price negotiation.

Drugs were selected from 2 categories. Each has either been on the market for at least 7 years without a competing generic version or is a physician-administered “biologic” drug that has been on the market for at least 11 years. The drugs are: Eliquis & Xarelto (blood thinners), Jardiance, Januvia and Novolog (for diabetes treatment), Farxiga (for the treatment of diabetes and heart failure), Entresto (for heart failure), Enbrel (for the treatment of autoimmune disease), Imbruvica (for the treatment of blood cancer) and Stelara (for psoriasis and other inflammatory disorders).

CMS estimates that people enrolled in Medicare prescription drug coverage can save $1.5 billion, taxpayers can save $6 billion, and drug coverage premiums will decrease.

The cost for these 10 drugs was about 20% of the total spending for Medicare enrollees over the past year, over $50 billion for the year between June 1, 2022, through May 31, 2023, not including rebates and discounts. Medicare covered most of the cost; however, almost 9 million Medicare beneficiaries had to spend almost $3.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs.

According to research from the Commonwealth Fund, almost 1 out of 10 Medicare enrollees ages 65 and older did not fill their prescription or skipped taking a drug dose due to cost in 2021. In a statement last year by President Biden, “Millions of Americans are forced to choose between paying for medicines they need to live or paying for food, rent, and other basic necessities. Those days are ending.”

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

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RALEIGH, NC – August 7, 2024 – Each of the state’s 99 hospitals have signed up for a new state program to reduce medical debt. On July 1^st, Governor Cooper announced an initiative to increase federal payments to participating hospitals who agree to forgive medical debt for low- and middle-income patients. The sign-up deadline was August 9^th. The medical debt program is believed to be the first one of its kind in the United States. Uncollectible medical debt dating back to 2014 will be forgiven.

The medical initiative includes some related benefits. It offers discounts to low-income patients who did not qualify for Medicaid. Caps interest rates on hospital medical debt. Hospitals agree not report medical debt to credit agencies.

There is a medical debt crisis in North Carolina. According to 2022 credit bureau data analyzed by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit organization that shapes policy through economic and social policy research, 20% of North Carolina’s residents has medical debt in collections, the fourth highest state in the country. Black and Hispanic persons and people living in rural areas are disproportionately affected by having medical debt.

The medical debt program will be funded by federal money coming from the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, or HASP, because the state Medicaid program shifted to managed care. It is estimated that 2 million low- and middle-income North Carolinians will have $4 billion of medical debt forgiven.

Cooper said in a news release, “Large medical bills from sickness or injury can cripple the finances of North Carolinians, particularly those who are already struggling. Freeing people from medical debt can be life-changing for families, as well as boost the overall economic health of North Carolina.”

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

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ASHEVILLE, NC – August 21, 2024 – The winter surge of respiratory infections, like COVID-19, has passed. However, over the past 3 years, COVID-19 infections have also surged in August.

The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 10^th shows:  

• Less than 2% of the deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the 2^nd lowest level of 6 groups and increased since last week.
• Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are moderate in North Carolina, between 3.0-4.0% of all visits and increased since last week.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 7^th shows:

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is between 80-100%, the highest level of 5 groups.
• The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample has increased from the previous week to 100% or greater, the highest level of 3 groups with a positive rate of change.

 

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Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour