Crony Capitalism Results In The Biggest Medicare Price Hike In History

Untrumpeted and in the dead of night, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B will rise roughly 14.5 percent, the largest increase ever in terms of dollars and among the largest percentage increases in recent years.

Seniors across the country will see pay this increase in large part due to Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm. It is priced at $56,000 per year even though it is not proven to be clearly effective at treating the disease.

CMS officials admitted that Aduhelm was responsible for about half of the rise in Part B premiums.

Medicare Part B covers medically necessary services, including: Doctors’ services and tests, such as lab tests, cancer screenings, diabetes screenings, and supplies; outpatient care, home health services, durable medical equipment (such as walkers), and some preventative services (such as flu shots), among other medical services.

In November of 2020, a panel of independent advisers for the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) voted nearly unanimously against approval for Aduhelm, saying the data didn’t indicate that the drug was effective. In fact, 10 of the 11 committee members voted against the drug’s approval with the lone remaining member voting “uncertain.”

But in June of 2021, the FDA approved the drug. Independent experts immediately labeled the approval as “disgraceful.” The decision was so outrageous that three experts on the FDA’s advisory committee resigned in protest. A watchdog organization called for the resignations of every FDA official involved in the decision.

An investigative media report determined that “overly chummy relations” between Biogen and the FDA review staff were in play. About a month after the approval, the FDA’s acting commissioner narrowed the use of the drug and requested the Office of the Inspector General investigate the agency’s decision.

Coincidentally – or not, Biogen set the list price at $56,000 per year. At that price, the drug would cost Medicare upwards of $334.5 billion per year; half of the budget for the Department of Defense.

A cost-effectiveness analysis by the nonprofit Institute for Clinical & Economic Review determined that a reasonable price for Aduhelm was between $3,000 to $8,400 per year.

Why This Is Important

This Medicare premium hike is outrageous given the wasted tax dollars that the Biden administration has already dished out of the government trough for Big Pharma in their raiding of the Treasury under the COVIC pandemic canard.

While the American taxpayer has become complacent about the federal government’s spendthrift budgetary practices and their addiction to deficit spending, it is time for every American to stand up and get incredibly angry; incredibly vocal in protest at how the elitist political class has thrown America’s Seniors under the bus.











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follow the money, how many in both parties invested in this company recently !!!!