NEW AARP Report: Impact of Historic Medicare Rx Out-of-Pocket Spending Cap on South Dakota Seniors

AARP released a report this week showing an estimated 6,267 South Dakotans on Medicare prescription drug plans will see savings thanks to a new out-of-pocket cap that starts January 1, 2025.

The savings are made possible by a provision in the 2022 prescription drug law that AARP championed, which caps 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 South Dakota and across the country by lowering drug prices and out-of-pocket costs,” said Erik Gaikowski State Director of AARP South Dakota, which serves more than 100,000 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 South Dakota 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.”

Other findings from the report show that more than three-quarters of Medicare drug plan enrollees who will benefit in 2025 are between the ages of 65 and 84. In addition, 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.

“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 and making many vaccines, such as shingles and pneumonia, free,” said Gaikowski.

Learn more about the impact of the new Medicare Part D out-of-pocket spending cap and view the full report here. You can also view an interactive map on the AARP website to see how the change impacts each state.