Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs for Medicare Beneficiaries With Cardiovascular Risk Factors Under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Narasimmaraj PR, Oseran A, Tale A, Xu J, Essien UR, Kazi DS, Yeh RW, Wadhera RK. Out-of-Pocket Drug Costs for Medicare Beneficiaries With Cardiovascular Risk Factors Under the Inflation Reduction Act. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2023 Apr 18; 81(15):1491-1501.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

BACKGROUND: High out-of-pocket prescription drug costs contribute to financial toxicity, medication nonadherence, and adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes. Policymakers recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will cap Medicare out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000/year and expand full low-income subsidies (LIS). It is unclear how these provisions will affect Medicare beneficiaries with CV risk factors and/or conditions. OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to characterize the population of Medicare beneficiaries with CV risk factors/conditions experiencing out-of-pocket prescription drug costs > $2,000/year and estimate their potential savings under the Inflation Reduction Act''s spending cap; identify sociodemographic characteristics associated with out-of-pocket costs > $2,000/year; and characterize beneficiaries newly eligible for LIS under the Inflation Reduction Act. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of Medicare beneficiaries aged  = 65 years with  = 1 CV risk factor/condition from 2016 to 2019. RESULTS: An annual estimated 34,056,335 ± 855,653 Medicare beneficiaries (mean ± SE) had  = 1 CV risk factor/condition, of whom 1,020,484 ± 77,055 experienced out-of-pocket drug costs > $2,000/year. The likelihood of experiencing out-of-pocket drug costs > $2,000/year was lower among adults  = 75 years vs 65 to 74 years (adjusted OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.49-0.93) and for low-income vs higher-income adults. Among beneficiaries currently spending > $2,000/year, estimated median out-of-pocket drug savings would be $855/year and total annual savings $1,723,031,307 ± $91,150,609 under the Inflation Reduction Act. An estimated 1,289,861 beneficiaries would also become newly eligible for LIS. CONCLUSIONS: More than 1 million older adults with CV risk factors and/or conditions spend > $2,000/year out-of-pocket on prescription drugs and will likely benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act''s cap, with estimated total out-of-pocket savings of $1.7 billion/year, while another 1.3 million will also become newly eligible for LIS.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.