If you are an American over 65, you are entitled to receive Medicare benefits, and one of the perks of these benefits is the partial coverage of prescription drugs. The most significant change that the program will implement going forward is a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs, which will also be accompanied by a new program designed to help enrollees spread out their medication costs over the course of the calendar year, deferring some of the most challenging costs and helping them budget better.
Both of these changes are a part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is being slowly implemented. The Act was implemented by the Biden-Harris administration as an all-encompassing proposal to improve climate and health law in the U.S. It is considered to be one of the most important accomplishments of their administration, and the measures that it contains will continue to expand and be implemented until 2027.
Amy Niles, Chief Mission Officer of the PAN Foundation, commented when being asked at a Tuesday event hosted by The Hill about 2025 Medicare drug benefits “If you are someone living with a serious illness or illnesses and you have been historically used to high out-of-pocket costs, that $2,000 cap is welcome news. Albeit it is still quite a bit of money for many Americans … it is still going to be a struggle for many communities.”
The good thing about this cap is that it kicks in automatically for seniors; there is no application process or receipt submission necessary. Once the $2,000 limit is spent on deductibles or copayments, the rest of their Medicare Part D drugs will be free. The downside is that to benefit, you will have to be enrolled into the new Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which not everyone is aware of.
