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Home » Wyden Urges HHS Not to Implement Medicare Premium Hikes
Wyden Urges HHS Not to Implement Medicare Premium Hikes
December 15, 2021
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has urged HHS not to implement a planned Medicare premium increase to cover the high cost of Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab).
In a letter to the department, Wyden noted that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has yet to make a final coverage determination and may only cover the drug in certain limited circumstances.
He also pointed out that the drug, which has a current list price of $56,000 annually, was cleared by the FDA through the agency’s accelerated approval pathway and still must prove clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial.
“Medicare beneficiaries cannot be saddled with a record increase in monthly premium costs — especially when those premium costs are being driven up by uncertain expectations of sky-high Medicare costs for an outrageously expensive drug like Aduhelm that has presented limited clinical evidence of its effectiveness,” Wyden said.
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