Yesterday, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the first 10 drugs to participate in the new Medicare Drug Price Negotiation program. This program, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, allows Medicare to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D – Minnesota) commented on the announcement, saying more are on the way. The ten drugs chosen to start the negotiation process are Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; and NovoLog PenFill.
According to HHS, these drugs cost Medicare recipients a total of 3.4 billion dollars in out-of-pocket costs in 2022. Klobuchar believes that the announcement is a good start but that more work needs to be done to combat the impacts of prescription drug prices.