Medicare plans to slash payments for expensive and untested skin bandages that have cost the federal government billions of dollars, the Trump administration announced Monday.

The new proposed limit is an about-face for the administration, which twice delayed Biden-era rules to reduce spending on the bandages, known as skin substitutes. President Donald Trump, who previously defended the payments on social media, received a large campaign donation last year from a leading bandage seller.

Spending on skin substitutes has increased fortyfold in the past five years, surpassing $10 billion in 2024. That sharp increase is one of the largest examples of Medicare waste in the program’s history, according to data analysts and industry experts.

Medicare, the government insurance plan for seniors, spent more last year on the bandages than on ambulance rides or anesthesia, despite limited evidence that they work. The bandages are made from dried bits of placenta and are used on wounds that won’t heal.

— The New York Times