A provision in the Inflation Reduction Act has empowered Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for the first time, lowering prices for 10 key drugs that will save seniors $1.5 billion next year, according to a White House news release.
The change is anticipated to impact more than 144,000 Washington Medicare enrollees reliant on the drugs, according to 2022 data released by the Department of Health and Human Services.
In total, these Washingtonians spent about $67.6 million out of pocket on those medications.
“This historic law allowed the federal government and Medicare to go toe-to-toe with Big Pharma to negotiate the prices of prescription drugs for the first time,” said U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
The Biden Administration announced the price cuts for the drugs will range from 38% to 79%. The drugs included in this round of negotiations are among the most popular and expensive medications prescribed to people on Medicare, according to a Cantwell news release.
“Prices for many of these drugs have soared in recent years, far exceeding the rate of inflation – doubling, tripling or even more in some cases,” the release states. “For many of the patients taking these drugs, they will need them for the rest of their lives.”
Drug prices were negotiated for Eliquis (for blood clots), Jardiance (for type 2 diabetes), Xarelto (for blood clots), Januvia (for type 2 diabetes), Farxiga (for type 2 diabetes), Entresto (for heart failure), Enbrel (for arthritis), Imbruvica (for blood cancers), Stelara (for Crohn’s disease) and Novolog (for diabetes).
Cantwell noted that the process was just getting started and that the next 15 medications to be selected for negotiation will be announced in February.
The senator, a leading voice for reducing prescription drug costs, has also pushed for passage of her bipartisan Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers have the power to dictate how much people pay for their prescriptions, how they can access their prescriptions and even what type of treatments people can receive, the Cantwell release said. Nearly 80% of the prescription drug market is controlled by three pharmacy benefit managers.
Cantwell's legislation is designed to increase drug pricing transparency and hold pharmacy benefit managers “accountable for unfair and deceptive practices that drive up prescription drug costs at the expense of consumers,” according to the release.
The senator explained that price negotiation authority and other provisions would have saved Medicare $6 billion in 2024 and is expected to reduce the federal deficit by $237 billion over the next decade.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
