Nearly 30 million women with Medicare, including around two million who received recommended vaccines in 2021 with zero cost sharing, are set to save money thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provisions. According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), if the IRA’s $35 cap on cost sharing for Medicare-covered insulin had been in place in 2020, approximately 733,000 women could have saved money. By 2025, it is projected that about 857,000 women enrolled in Part D will save $1,000 or more due to the IRA’s restructuring of the prescription drug program’s system.
In an announcement emphasizing the impact of high healthcare costs on women across the country, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure stated that reducing prescription drug expenses and improving healthcare accessibility for women and all Medicare beneficiaries was a key goal of the IRA. ASPE’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Rebecca Haffajee added that since most Medicare Part D enrollees are women and some conditions that require prescription drugs are more common in women than men, reducing drug costs has a significant impact on this demographic.
With more than half of all Medicare enrollment being accounted for by women, ensuring their access to affordable healthcare is crucial. As such, organizations like Medicare Rights continue to advocate for improved care and coverage for older adults, individuals with disabilities, and their families.
