Leqvio is a brand-name prescription medication containing the active ingredient inclisiran. A doctor or healthcare professional will administer the medication as an injection under the skin.
Original Medicare Part B covers outpatient medications that a person receives in a doctor’s office, so this should apply to Leqvio (inclisiran). Individuals may have to pay a 20% coinsurance toward the cost of the medication.
A doctor or healthcare professional may prescribe Leqvio (inclisiran) to people with high cholesterol, and when medically necessary, Medicare may cover some or all of the costs.
Original Medicare comprises Part A and Part B. Part A covers inpatient care, and Part B covers outpatient services, including limited prescription medications.
Part B and prescription medications
Original Medicare Part B typically covers medications that people would not take themselves at home.
As a person would receive Leqvio (inclisiran) in a doctor’s office, the medication should be covered by Part B.
Out-of-pocket costs are applicable to Part B items and services.
In 2025, the Part B deductible is $257. Once a person has paid this amount in full, they should expect to pay 20% of the medication cost directly to the doctor’s office, which will then bill Medicare directly for the rest.
Other medications that Part B covers include:
- monoclonal antibodies that treat Alzheimer’s disease
- drugs that some types of durable medical equipment (DME) use, such as a nebulizer
- some antigen allergy tests and treatments
- HIV prevention drugs
- injectable osteoporosis drugs
- erythropoietin injections for end stage renal disease (ESRD) or anemia
- injectable blood clotting factors to treat hemophilia that a person may give themselves or get in a doctor’s office
- injectable and infused drugs from a licensed healthcare professional
- oral ESRD medications
Leqvio is an injectable drug containing the active ingredient inclisiran.
Doctors and healthcare professionals will usually prescribe this medication alongside another medication type, called a statin, while also recommending lifestyle adaptations.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves Leqvio (inclisiran) to:
- treat high cholesterol (hyperlipidemia)
- decrease low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels
- treat the genetic condition, heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH), which causes high cholesterol
How Leqvio (inclisiran) works
LDL receptors, located in liver cells, remove LDL cholesterol from the blood so the liver can break it down.
However, the liver makes a specific protein called proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), which destroys LDL receptors.
Leqvio (inclisiran) prevents the liver from making PCSK9, which helps keep LDL cholesterol levels down.