Medicare Part D 2025 Key Changes and Payment Plan for Multiple Sclerosis: Sarah Anderson, PharmD, NBC-HWC

WATCH TIME: 9 minutes

"Beginning January 1, 2025, the Inflation Reduction Act caps annual out-of-pocket costs for Part D beneficiaries at $2,000, providing much-needed relief for many living with chronic conditions like MS."

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law in August 2022, aimed to address various healthcare concerns, specifically high prescription drug prices. At the time, the IRA granted Medicare the authority to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs and set limits on out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part D. Furthermore, it allowed Part D beneficiaries to spread their drug costs throughout the calendar year. These new provisions mark the most substantial changes to Medicare Part D since its launch in 2006, as noted by Nicole M. Boschi, PhD in a recent blog post on NeurologyLive^®.

In the blog, Boschi, who serves as the director of regulatory affairs at the National MS Society (Society), noted that the Society has constantly worked to help increase treatment access patients living with multiple sclerosis (MS) rely on, including advocating for the passage of the IRA. Boschi also wrote in the blog post that the Society is dedicated to instructing healthcare providers on how to aid their patients, who have been impacted by MS, to navigate these changes to more affordable access medications that allow will allow them to experience a better quality of life.

If there are any clinicians that serve patients who are on Medicare Part D or Medicare Advantage plans, they may need to be informed about the big changes coming for their patients in 2025. To deep deeper, Sarah Anderson, PharmD, NBC-HWC, senior director of clinical resources and programming at the Society, discussed how these changes will improve affordability for patients with high prescription drug costs. She also talked about the key features and benefits of the new Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. Moreover, Anderson spoke about how healthcare providers should guide their patients in enrolling and managing the new payment options.

National MS Society MS Navigator: https://www.nationalmssociety.org/resources/get-support/ms-navigator

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