Medicare Paid More for Stelara Under Part D Than B, HHS OIG Says

Medicare enrollees paid substantially more for Stelara injections when the drug was self-administered at home versus in a doctors office, a federal oversight agency report found.

Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara—an injectable treating certain autoimmune diseases—was more expensive for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services when it was covered under Part D compared to Part B, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General reported Friday.

Medicare expenditures for the drug increased from $300 million in 2016 to almost $3 billion in 2023, the study found.

Medicare coverage for prescription drugs is primarily provided under ...