Just the idea of Aduhelm's long-term fi­nan­cial risks has CMS jack­ing up pre­mi­ums, de­ductibles for 2022

Al­though sales of Bio­gen’s ex­pen­sive new Alzheimer’s drug have been ane­mic since the ap­proval in June, the prospect of CMS even­tu­al­ly pay­ing for it opens up a bil­lion-dol­lar can of worms, and al­ready has the agency de­fend­ing some pre­mi­um and de­ductible in­creas­es for se­niors.

CMS ex­plained late Fri­day that Medicare Part B will have to in­crease its stan­dard month­ly pre­mi­um — from $148.50 in 2021 to $170.10 in 2022 — in part be­cause of the mas­sive spend­ing that could oc­cur should the agency sign off on a na­tion­al cov­er­age de­ci­sion for the drug, known as Aduhelm, and its $56,000 an­nu­al price tag next year.

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