Inflation is like a vacuum. It sucks away your hard-earned dollars. You spend more for the same things that cost you so much less just a year ago. There is a glimmer of hope though. If you are on Medicare and take one of these medications, you may soon get an inflation rebate.

Part B Drugs

The bulk of your medications will be covered by Medicare Part D. However, there may be times you will turn to Part B instead. Part B covers a limited number of medications. You will usually pay a 20% coinsurance for each dose of medication.

• Antigens (some), if prepared by a doctor
• Blood clotting factors
• Immunosuppressive drugs
• Injectable drugs administered by a licensed healthcare professional (including drugs for post-menopausal osteoporosis)
• Injectable erythropoiesis-stimulating drugs to treat anemia caused by end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
• IV immune globulin (IVIG) for people with primary immune deficiency disease
• IV nutrition and/or tube feeds
• Medications administered through durable medical equipment (e.g., insulin in an insulin pump, medication used in a nebulizer machine)
• Oral medications (some) included as part of a chemotherapy regimen
• Oral medications used to end-stage renal disease (ESRD)
• Vaccinations (some)

Inflation Reduction Act

When the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022, one of the provisions was that pharmaceutical companies could not increase the price of any Part B drug more than the rate of inflation. If the government did not feel there was sufficient reason to support the price hike, the drug companies would be hit with penalties to make up the difference. Simply put, you get all (or at least some) of your money back.

Drugs with Inflation Rebates

Starting on January 1, 2023, the federal government started to track Part B drug prices quarterly (every 3 months). Any overcharges that happen THIS quarter will be be paid back to you as an inflation rebate NEXT quarter, so long as you continue to take those medications.

Quarter 1, January 1 – March 31, 2023:

• Dates for Inflation Rebate: April 1 – June 30, 2023
• Amount of Inflation Rebate: $1 – $372 per dose depending on the drug
• Number of Drugs Affected: 20

Drugs A – E	Drugs F – K	Drugs L – O	Drugs P – Z
Abelcet (Leadiant Biosciences) Akynzeo (Helsinn Therapeutics) Atgam (Pfizer) Aveed (Endo International) Bicillin C-R (Pfizer) Bicillin L-A (Pfizer) Carnitor (Leadiant Biosciences Cytogam (Kamada Therapeutics)	Flebogamma DIF (Grifols International) Fragmin (Pfizer) Humira (AbbVie)	Leukine (Partner Therapeutics) Minocin (Valeant) Mircera (F. Hoffmann-La Roche) Nipent (Pfizer)	Padcev (Astellas Pharma) Rybrevant (Janssen Biotech) Signifor LAR (Recordati Rare Diseases) Sylvant (EUSA Pharma) Xiaflex (Endo International)

Quarter 2, April 1 2003 – June 2023:

• Dates for Inflation Rebate: July 1 – September 30, 2023
• Amount of Inflation Rebate: $1 – $449 per dose depending on the drug
• Number of Drugs Affected: 43

Drugs A-E	Drugs F – K	Drugs L – O	Drugs P – Z
Abelcet (Leadiant Biosciences) Adcetris (Seagen Inc) Aggrastat (Medicure Pharma) Akynzeo (Helsinn Therapeutics) Atgam (Pfizer) Aveed (Endo International) Bicillin C-R (Pfizer) Bicillin L-A (Pfizer) Blincyto (Amgen) Carnitor (Leadiant Biosciences) Crysvita (Kyowa Kirin) Cuvitru (Takeda Pharmaceuticals) Cytogam (Kamada Therapeutics) Enjaymo (Sanofi)	Flebogamma DIF (Grifols International) Folotyn (Acrotech Biopharma) Fragmin (Pfizer) Gammagard S/D (Takeda Pharmaceuticals) Gammaplex (Kedrion Biopharma) Humira (AbbVie) Imlygic (BioVex) Infugem (Sun Pharma) Kyprolis (Amgen)	Leukine (Partner Therapeutics) Lupron Depot-PED (AbbVie) Minocin (Valeant) Mononine (CSL Behring) Nipent (Pfizer) NPlate (Amgen) Oncaspar (Servier Pharmaceuticals)	Padcev (Astellas Pharma) Panhematin (Recordati Rare Diseases) Prolia (Amgen) Rybrevant (Janssen Biotech) Signifor LAR (Recordati Rare Diseases) Synribo (Teva Pharmaceuticals) Tezspire (Amgen/Astra Zeneca) Trogarzo (TaiMed Biologics) Vabomere (Melinta Therapeutics) Varizig (Kamada) Vectibix (Amgen) Vivitrol (Alkermes) Xiaflex (Endo International)

Healthcare Lobby

Lobbying is big business. In 2022 alone, more than $375.2 million was spent on health care and Big Pharma lobbies. As much as $29.2 million of that was from a single organization, Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America ((PhRMA). Pfizer was next in line with $14.8 million. You may have noticed that Pfizer has a few drugs on these lists. Other pharmaceutical companies on this list — that lobbied more than 7 figures in 2022 — included Amgen ($10.1 million), AbbVie ($8.2 million), AstraZeneca ($5.8 million), Takeda Pharmaceutical ($4.9 million), and Sanofi ($4.8 million).

With such a big lobby, it’s not surprising that two lawsuits have already been put in motion to try to strike down the Inflation Reduction Act. One of those lawsuits was from Merck, who lobbied $8.3 million this past year.

I don’t know about you but it comes off as corporate greed to increase the price of medications just because you can. The cost of medications is already out of reach for far too many people. The judges better have their priorities straight and do the right thing.

Biden Administration Announces Savings on 43 Prescription Drugs as Part of Cost-Saving Measures Under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. (2023). HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/06/09/biden-administration-announces-savings-43-prescription-drugs-part-cost-saving-measures-president-bidens-inflation-reduction-act.html

Inflation Rebates in Medicare. (2023). CMS.gov. https://www.cms.gov/inflation-reduction-act-and-medicare/inflation-rebates-medicare

Inside the 2 lawsuits challenging the Inflation Reduction Act. (2023). Advisory. https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2023/06/14/ira-lawsuits

Pharmaceuticals/Health Products Lobbying Profile. (2023). OpenSecrets. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries/summary?cycle=2022&id=H04

Prescription Drug Coverage. (2023). Medicare.gov. https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/prescription-drugs-outpatient‌