Casey-backed Inflation Reduction Act gave Medicare power to negotiate drug prices for the first time
Biden Administration announcing first round of 10 prescriptions drugs today
Casey: Democrats and the Inflation Reduction Act paved the way to lower drug costs for the 63 million Americans on Medicare
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging, applauded the Biden Administration’s announcement of the first 10 prescription drugs selected for Medicare price negotiations. In August 2022, Democrats in Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allowed Medicare to directly negotiate the price of prescription drugs for the first time. The announcement of the first set of drugs to be selected for negotiations is the beginning of a process which will lower prescription drug costs for the 63 million Americans on Medicare.
“In the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats fought hard to finally allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Because of this law, pharmaceutical companies will no longer be able to charge Medicare recipients unfair prices for the medications they need, and millions of Americans will see lower drug costs as a result. This is a huge step to lower drug costs for Americans, but it’s also just the beginning. More drugs will be added to the list in the years to come, and Democrats are going to keep fighting to lower everyday costs for Americans and ensure that families don’t have to choose between their health and their bank account,”said Chairman Casey.
Below is a list of the drugs included and the conditions they’re commonly used for. Negotiated prices will go into effect beginning in 2026.
- Eliquis (Prevention and treatment of blood clots)
- Jardiance (Diabetes; Heart failure)
- Xarelto (Prevention and treatment of blood clots; Reduction of risk for patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease)
- Januvia (Diabetes)
- Farxiga (Diabetes; Heart failure; Chronic kidney disease)
- Entresto (Heart failure)
- Enbrel (Rheumatoid arthritis; Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis)
- Imbruvica (Blood cancers)
- Stelara (Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis)
- Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen, NovoLog PenFill (Diabetes)
In addition to allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time, the IRA also capped the cost of insulin for Medicare Part D patients at $35 a month for certain covered insulin products starting last January. It also will limit their out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 per year beginning in 2025 and instituted a new provision to impose penalties on drug companies that hike up prices in Medicare above the rate of inflation. It also makes eligible vaccines, including the shingles vaccine, free for seniors with Medicare Part D and expands cost-sharing assistance for low-income people with Medicare, a provision Senator Casey championed through his Lowering Medicare Premiums and Prescription Drug Costs Act. Families are already seeing lower prescription drug prices because of some of these provisions.
