The Biden administration listed 10 drugs that will be subject to price cuts because they account for the highest Medicare spending. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed last year, negotiations for the drug price reduction will take place during the next two years, but won’t go into effect until 2026.
The program is a “key part of Bidenomics,” which is President Biden’s economic vision to grow the economy “from the middle out and the bottom up—not the top down” and is the foundation of his 2024 re-election campaign.
“While pharmaceutical companies made record profits and spent hundreds of millions of dollars year after year, millions of Americans were forced to choose between paying for medications they needed to live or paying for basic necessities,” Christen Linke Young, deputy assistant to the president for health and veteran affairs, said.
The 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations include:
- Eliquis, a blood thinner
- Xarelto, a blood thinner
- Januvia, a diabetes drug
- Jardiance, a diabetes drug
- Enbrel, a rheumatoid arthritis drug
- Imbruvica, a drug for blood cancers
- Farxiga, a drug for diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease
- Entresto, a heart failure drug
- Stelara, a drug for psoriasis and Crohn’s disease
- Fiasp and NovoLog, for diabetes
The program is estimated to save the government $98.5 billion over a decade, Causes.com reported. The 10 drugs listed add up to $50.5 billion, or 20 percent, of Medicare Part D spending from June 1, 2022, to May 31, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The pharmaceutical industry is fighting against the program in court, claiming that it is “the result of a rushed process focused on short-term political gain rather than what is best for patients,” Stephen J. Ubl, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America—a main lobbying group—said.
“[It will] have significant negative consequences long after this administration is gone,” Ubl said.
But the Biden administration said the negotiations could save taxpayers money—a recent study published in JAMA Health Forum determined that Medicare price negotiations will likely save the U.S. billions of dollars.
The pharmaceutical manufacturers have until Oct. 1 to confirm their participation in the program to negotiate drug prices with the government. declare. If they decline to answer, manufacturers will either pay a large tax or have to withdraw their drugs from Medicare and Medicaid.
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