U.S. Announces First 10 Drugs in Medicare Price Negotiations

On Tuesday, the U.S. government named the first 10 drugs subject to price negotiations in Medicare. This marks the first-ever price negotiation by the U.S. Medicare health program that covers roughly 66 million people in the United States.

BREAKING: The popular diabetes treatment Jardiance and the blood thinner Eliquis are among the first drugs that will be targeted by the Biden administration for price negotiations in effort to cut Medicare costs. https://t.co/5lyFAeUoWW

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 29, 2023

The list of medications include: Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, and Fiasp. Certain insulins made by Novo Nordisk are included in the bid as well. These medications treat heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes and autoimmune diseases.

President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law last year, reportedly granting Medicare the opportunity to negotiate prices for some of the costliest drugs.

Although the reduction in cost does not directly affect the price patients will be paying at the pharmacy counter, seniors using heftier priced medications like cancer drugs, for example, would likely end up costing more money from their pockets.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the savings will mostly go to Medicare since they pay “the bulk of the cost of the drugs.”

“There is no reason why Americans should be forced to pay more than any developed nation for life-saving prescriptions just to pad Big Pharma’s pockets,” Biden said in a statement. He further claimed that once implemented, the new prices on these drugs will decrease up to nine million seniors who currently pay “as much as $6,497 in out-of-pocket costs per year for these prescriptions.”

This kicks off the negotiation process for the 10 drugs whose new prices would go into effect in 2026. The program aims to save $25 billion per year on drug prices by 2031.