After receiving a review from CMS, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said May 27 that Medicare Part B premiums won't be adjusted downward until next year.
Mr. Becerra instructed CMS in January to reassess 2022 Medicare Part B premiums after a significant price decrease in the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm.
"After receiving CMS' report reevaluating the 2022 Medicare Part B premiums, we have determined that we can put cost-savings directly back into the pockets of people enrolled in Medicare in 2023," Mr. Becerra said in a May 27 news release. "We had hoped to achieve this sooner, but CMS explains that the options to accomplish this would not be feasible."
In November 2021, CMS announced one of the largest Medicare Part B price hikes in the program's history: a 14 percent premium increase. The rule increased premiums to $170.10 and standard deductibles up to $30.
The department partially attributed the hike to bracing for the potential coverage of Aduhelm, which at the time cost an average of $56,000 per person per year. Since then, Biogen announced that effective Jan. 1, it would cut the price of Aduhelm in half.