Medicare negotiated drug prices for the first time. Here’s what it got
The White House unveiled the fruits of months of negotiations between the government and pharmaceutical companies: new, lower Medicare prices for 10 blockbuster drugs.
The discounts range from 79% for diabetes drug Januvia to 38% for blood cancer drug Imbruvica.
If the negotiated prices were in effect in 2023, Medicare would have saved $6 billion and beneficiaries would have saved $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs, such as copays at the pharmacy counter. That’s what officials say they expect to save in the first year the prices are in effect.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra played up the savings Wednesday evening.
In a press call ahead of the announcement, Becerra said if the negotiated prices were in effect in 2023, Medicare would have saved $6 billion and beneficiaries would have saved $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs, such as copays at the pharmacy counter.
“I had the privilege to work closely with our HHS team and oversee the negotiations,” which took nearly a year, Becerra said. “The negotiations were comprehensive. They were intense. It took both sides to reach a good deal.”
The program selected the first 10 medicines for negotiation last year based on several conditions laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act, which ended Medicare’s 20-year ban on negotiating drug prices. The drugs included blockbuster blood thinners, like Eliquis and Xarelto, as well as drugs for arthritis, cancer, diabetes, and heart failure.
The negotiated prices will go into effect in January 2026.