Medicare blockbusters’ list prices more than doubled since launch – By Caitlin Owens (Axios) / April 6, 2022
Two blood thinners that Medicare spent a collective $46 billion on between 2015 and 2020 have more than doubled their list prices since entering the market, according to a new analysis by Patients for Affordable Drugs.
Why it matters: List prices don’t reflect the rebates negotiated between drug manufacturers and payers, but they are often used to determine Medicare Part D cost sharing — meaning as prices go up, patients pay more out of pocket.
The big picture: More than 8 million Americans regularly take blood thinners. Until 2010, the standard of care was warfarin, which was cheap but carried the risk of heavy bleeding.
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