Aduhelm, a $56,000 per year Alzheimer’s drug, is expected to drive up Medicare Part B premiums next year

November 19, 2021 - WASHINGTON — Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) is doubling down on his push to include prescription drug cost reduction measures in the upcoming Build Back Better legislation after a new report that Aduhelm, currently priced at $56,000 per year, is expected to drive rising Medicare Part B rates next year. Though a cost-effectiveness analysis estimated a reasonable price for Aduhelm could be as little as $3,000 per year, its manufacturer, Biogen, has set the price at more than eighteen times that rate.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) confirmed to CNN this week that Medicare Part B premiums, which covers doctors’ visits and medications given by doctors as well as outpatient hospital treatment and some home health care, will rise from $148.50 to $170.10 next year. Nearly half of that increase is singularly due to Aduhelm’s five figure price tag.

“I’m sick of big pharmaceutical companies ripping off Central Valley families,” said Rep. Harder. “I don’t care who you are or what company you run, nobody should be able to jack up drug prices by a factor of twenty and send the bill to seniors in our community. It’s past time we dragged these CEOs to the negotiating table and delivered prescription drugs our families can actually afford. We’ve got a chance to do it in Build Back Better, so let’s get it done.”

Today’s efforts build on Rep. Harder’s leadership in the fight to lower the cost of prescription drugs. He recently penned a letter directly to Democratic leadership urging them to include measures to lower prescription drug costs in the Build Back Better Act.  His office also published a report that found Central Valley families pay twenty one times more for insulin than people living in Australia.
Source: Congressman Josh Harder