Medicare Limits Price Hikes for 48 Drugs

Medicare enrollees may pay less out of pocket for 48 prescription drugs whose prices are rising faster than inflation.

These drugs were on the latest list issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in December as part of a law that limits price hikes for drugs covered by Medicare Part B to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index.

Drugmakers who raise their prices higher have to pay a penalty in the form of a rebate to Medicare.

Drug companies won't have to pay rebates until 2025. But the 20 percent coinsurance that consumers are charged is based on what the drugs would cost if price kikes were held to the inflation rate.