Of Price And Premiums: Medicare Has Put Alzheimer’s Drug Sponsors On Notice

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will adjust monthly Part B premiums downward in 2023 to reflect the fact that Medicare reimbursement for Biogen, Inc.’s Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm has been strictly limited to its use in randomized clinical trials, and that Biogen has cut the drug’s price in half, the agency announced on 27 May.

The announcement responds to a directive from Health and Human Services Department Secretary Xavier Becerra that CMS rethink the unprecedented premium increase it implemented in 2022, according to the agency. The 14.5% increase to $170.10 per month was instituted in part to help protect the financial stability of the Medicare program against an expected cost tsunami driven by Aduhelm (aducanumab-avwa)