ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2025
Out-of-Pocket Prescription Drug Savings for Medicare Beneficiaries with Asthma and COPD Under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Exploring the Impact of Financial Toxicity in COPD: A Qualitative Study.Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (Miami, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Cost-Related Medication Nonadherence After the Inflation Reduction Act.JAMA internal medicine · 2026Article
- Patient healthcare spending after the No Surprises Act: quasi-experimental difference-in-differences study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Article
- Association between Difficulty Affording Medications and Outcomes in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHigh and rising prescription drug costs for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) contribute to medication nonadherence and poor clinical outcomes. The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act includes provisions that will cap out-of-pocket prescription drug spending at $2,000 per year and expand low-income subsidies. However, little is known about how these provisions will impact out-of-pocket drug spending for Medicare beneficiaries with asthma and COPD.
objectiveTo estimate the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act's out-of-pocket spending cap and expansion of low-income subsidies on Medicare beneficiaries with obstructive lung disease.
designWe calculated the number of Medicare beneficiaries ≥ 65 years with asthma and/or COPD and out-of-pocket prescription drug spending > $2,000/year, and then estimated their median annual out-of-pocket savings under the Inflation Reduction Act's spending cap. We then estimated the number of beneficiaries with incomes > 135% and ≤ 150% of the federal poverty level who would become newly eligible for low-income subsidies under this policy.
participantsRespondents to the 2016-2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). MAIN MEASURES: Annual out-of-pocket prescription drug spending. KEY
resultsAn annual estimated 5.2 million Medicare beneficiaries had asthma and/or COPD. Among them, 360,160 (SE ± 38,021) experienced out-of-pocket drug spending > $2,000/year, with median out-of-pocket costs of $3,003/year (IQR $2,360-$3,941). Therefore, median savings under the Inflation Reduction Act's spending cap would be $1,003/year (IQR $360-$1,941), including $738/year and $1,137/year for beneficiaries with asthma and COPD, respectively. Total annual estimated savings would be $504 million (SE ± $42 M). In addition, 232,155 (SE ± 4,624) beneficiaries would newly qualify for low-income subsidies, which will further reduce prescription drug costs.
conclusionsThe Inflation Reduction Act will have major implications on out-of-pocket prescription drug spending for Medicare beneficiaries with obstructive lung disease resulting in half-a-billion dollars in total out-of-pocket savings per year, which could ultimately have implications on medication adherence and clinical outcomes.
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