How Medicare Part B Controls Healthcare Spending

Medicare Part B covers healthcare services ranging from routine checkups to physician-administered medication for complex disorders. However, some take issue with the average sales price (ASP) metric used to determine reimbursement. In a new PhRMA article, 3 charts provide data showing that Part B actually helps control costs for enrolees and the healthcare system at large. The first demonstrates that Part B medications account for less than 5% of total Medicare spending.

According to Nicole Longo, “In 2019, of the $787 billion in Medicare spending, only 2% was on outpatient hospital medicines and only 3% was on physician and supplier medicines. This is helped, in part, because reimbursement for Part B medicines remains a stable share of all Part B spending. This is projected to be the case through 2030.”

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(Source: PhRMA, February 18^th, 2022)