Medicare Patients Face Higher Drug Costs Despite $2,000 Spending Cap

Health plans that provide prescription drug benefits to Medicare beneficiaries have responded to the Inflation Reduction Act’s $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs by raising patient cost-sharing through higher deductibles and a greater reliance on coinsurance, finds a new study recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine .

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law in 2022, was designed to protect patients from catastrophic drug costs, with about 11 million beneficiaries — roughly one in five Part D enrollees — expected to reach the $2,000 spending threshold. But researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that Medicare Advantage and stand-alone Part D plans have made design changes that could increase costs for patients