The average sales price (ASP) used to calculate what Medicare pays providers for Part B drugs has been posted on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) website. The ASP is recalculated each quarter based on sales and price data from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The July ASP pricing file is available on the CMS website.
CMS reports that a comparison of the third quarter 2006 with the prior quarter reveals that most drug prices remained stable. Payment amounts across all drugs and across the top physician-administered drugs increased on average by slightly more than .5%. For 28 of the top 50 higher-volume drugs, payment amounts change 2% or less. Payment amounts for 30 of the top 50 drugs increased; payment for 3 remained the same.
Payment for intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) is increasing -- by 11.9% for the powdered lyphilized form and by 3.5% for liquid IVIG. Advocacy groups and providers had expressed concern about inadequacy of Medicare payment amounts for this substance.
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