Health and Human Services announced price cuts for 10 drugs covered under Medicare, expected to save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that it has successfully negotiated lower prices for 10 of the most expensive and widely used drugs covered under Medicare.
Nearly 9 million of the 54 million people with Medicare Part D coverage were dispensed the 10 drugs that are the subject of the price reductions.
The negotiation process, led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), involved discussions with pharmaceutical companies over several months.
“These negotiations will not only lower the prices of critically important medications for cancer, diabetes, heart failure, and more, but will also save billions of dollars,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a statement.
CMS said that, next year, it can select another batch of drugs for price negotiations.
“Our team is actively working on the next cycle of negotiations where we will combine what we have learned from this first cycle and apply it in negotiating prices for the next round of up to 15 selected drugs,” Meena Seshamani, CMS deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare, said in a statement.
After selecting 15 drugs covered by Medicare Part D for price negotiation for 2027, CMS will choose another 15 drugs for 2028, with plans to select up to 20 drugs each year after that.
- Eliquis: A blood thinner used to reduce the risk of stroke, costing Medicare $16.5 billion, to be 56 percent cheaper.
- Jardiance: A diabetes and heart failure medication, costing $7 billion, to be 66 percent cheaper.
- Xarelto: Another blood thinner, costing $6 billion, to be 62 percent cheaper.
- Januvia: A diabetes drug, costing $4.1 billion, to be 79 percent cheaper.
- Farxiga: Used for diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease, costing $3.3 billion, to be 68 percent cheaper.
- Entresto: A heart failure drug, costing $2.9 billion, to be 53 percent cheaper.
- Enbrel: Treats autoimmune conditions, costing $2.8 billion, to be 67 percent cheaper.
- Imbruvica: A leukemia treatment, costing $2.7 billion, to be 38 percent cheaper.
- Stelara: Treats autoimmune diseases, costing $2.6 billion, to be 66 percent cheaper.
- NovoLog, Fiasp (insulin aspart): Insulin products, costing $2.6 billion, to be 76 percent cheaper.
The White House said in an Aug. 15 statement that the negotiations were made possible thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to join Biden at an event on Aug. 15 to announce the drug prices, which will mark their first joint speaking appearance since she replaced him at the top of the Democratic ticket.