FILE - The Biogen Inc., headquarters is shown March 11, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass. Medicare's “Part B” outpatient premium will jump by $21.60 next year, one of the largest increases ever. Medicare officials told reporters on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, that about half the increase is attributable to contingency planning if the program has to cover Aduhelm, a new $56,000-a-year medication for Alzheimer's disease made by Biogen. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Steven Senne / AP
Steven Senne / AP
FILE - The Biogen Inc., headquarters is shown March 11, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass. Medicare's “Part B” outpatient premium will jump by $21.60 next year, one of the largest increases ever. Medicare officials told reporters on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, that about half the increase is attributable to contingency planning if the program has to cover Aduhelm, a new $56,000-a-year medication for Alzheimer's disease made by Biogen. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
(Washington) — Medicare’s “Part B” outpatient premium will jump by $21.60 a month in 2022, one of the largest increases ever.
Officials said Friday a new Alzheimer’s drug is responsible for about half of that.
The increase guarantees that health care costs will gobble up a big chunk of the recently announced Social Security cost-of-living allowance, a boost that had worked out to $92 a month for the average retired worker.
The announcement on premiums comes as Congress is considering Democratic legislation that would curb what Medicare pays for medications.
The new Part B premium will be $170.10 a month.
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