Medicare

From Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, Medicare enrollees have the ability to switch plans for 2025. Here’s what changes experts say to watch for next year.

The negotiated price cuts won’t take effect until 2026, but a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs begins for all Medicare Part D enrollees next year.

The Biden administration announced Thursday that the prices of 10 popular, and expensive, drugs would be cut for Medicare Part D enrollees beginning January 2026.

The Biden administration is taking a victory lap after federal officials inked deals with drug companies to lower the price for 10 of Medicare’s most costliest drugs.

President Joe Biden often overstates what people who are eligible for the price cap for insulin paid previously.

Medicare’s recent move to cover the weight-loss drug Wegovy for some recipients with heart disease risk could drive up the cost of monthly premiums for many of the 65 million adults enrolled in the federal health insurance program.

Judge Thomas Rose of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio withdrew from a case that could block Medicare’s drug price negotiation program.

This is part of the Biden administration’s effort to lower drug prices by negotiating directly with the manufacturers.

The move is expected to cut costs for some patients but faces litigation from the drugmakers and heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers.

Some private insurers are balking at paying for the first drug fully approved to slow mental decline in Alzheimer’s patients.

Merck is suing the federal government over a plan to negotiate Medicare drug prices, calling the program a sham equivalent to extortion.

Patients will have to participate in registries that collect real-world data on how the drug works as a condition of coverage.