Rising Drug Spending Targeted in Medicare Panel Recommendations

Federal lawmakers should implement three policy changes designed to curb spending for drugs covered under Medicare’s outpatient “Part B” benefit, a report by a congressional advisory panel urges.

The recommendations in the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s annual June report to Congress note that Part B drugs and biologics, which are administered in doctors’ offices and hospital outpatient departments, cost Medicare about $43 billion in 2021.

But their cost grew at about 9% a year between 2009 and 2021, fueled mainly by rising average prices paid by Medicare, the introduction of higher-priced drugs, increased prices for existing products, and the ...