Happy $2,000/annual Out-Of-Pocket Cap For Medicare Beneficiaries Day

This provision of the Inflation Reduction Act kicks in today.

The Frontier Psychiatrists newsletter covers breaking news. There's a lot of breaking news in the world, much of it bad. This, however, is probably good news.

If you are in the very lucky portion of the population that does not have an illness for which a wildly expensive drug exists, enjoy this article in good health. However, catastrophic insurance coverage no longer exists to protect you against a car accident, or surgery you're gonna need for cancer, or all the things we traditionally associate with a catastrophe. Until the end of 2024, one of the largest financial catastrophes for Medicare beneficiaries was that they could be on the hook for a functionally infinite amount of money regarding their medication costs.

Medicare is broken up into four separate parts (at a very high level):

Part A covers hospital expenses, skilled nursing facilities, and hospice care.

Part B covers outpatient care, including mental health and durable medical equipment.

Part C covers Medicare Advantage Pla…