AARP Report Details Impact of Historic Medicare Rx Out-of-Pocket Spending Cap on New Mexico Seniors
Savings Possible Thanks to the Prescription Drug Law Championed by AARP
AARP released a report Aug. 28 that shows an estimated 16,073 New Mexicans on Medicare prescription drug plans will see savings thanks to a new out-of-pocket cap that starts Jan. 1, 2025. The savings are made possible by a provision in the 2022 prescription drug law that AARP championed capping out-of-pocket prescription drug costs every year, beginning at $2,000 next year, for America’s 56 million Medicare drug plan enrollees.
The AARP report analyzes the number of enrollees who will benefit from the cap by state, age, gender, and race between 2025 and 2029. The findings indicate that Medicare drug plan enrollees nationwide who reach the new out-of-pocket cap will see average savings of roughly $1,500, or 56%, in 2025 for their prescription drugs.
“AARP fought hard for the prescription drug law of 2022 because we knew it would provide crucial relief for Medicare enrollees here in New Mexico and across the country by lowering drug prices and out-of-pocket costs,” said Joseph Roybal-Sanchez, State Director for AARP New Mexico, which serves 240,000 members age 50 and older in the state.
“Knowing they won’t pay a dime over $2,000 next year – maximum – for prescription drugs they get at the pharmacy gives New Mexico seniors on Medicare drug plans some peace of mind as they struggle to keep up with rising costs for other everyday essentials like housing, groceries and utilities,” Roybal-Sanchez said.
Other findings from the report include:
• Between 3 and 4 million Part D plan enrollees nationwide are estimated to benefit from the new out-of-pocket cap every year between 2025 and 2029, including 20,391 here in New Mexico.
• By 2029, the share of enrollees benefiting from the new out-of-pocket cap is estimated to be 10 percent or higher in 19 states, 8.2% in New Mexico.
• More than three-quarters of Medicare drug plan enrollees who will benefit in 2025 are between the ages of 65 and 84.
“Limiting how much seniors on Medicare drug plans pay for prescription drugs every year builds on other new and important cost-saving measures, such as capping insulin co-pays at $35 a month for other states – here in New Mexico the insulin co-pay is capped at $25 -- and making many vaccines, such as shingles and pneumonia, free,” Sanchez said.
Learn more about the impact of the new Medicare Part D out-of-pocket spending cap and view the full report here.
