Medicare announces lower prices on 10 common, high-cost drugs
HOUSTON - The Biden administration said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with drugmakers to lower prices on the 10 costliest prescription drugs under Medicare.
It's part of the federal government's first-ever drug pricing negotiations, a cost reduction it claims could help ease the financial burden.
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Here are the negotiated prices for the drugs, based on a 30-day supply, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:
- Eliquis, a blood thinner from Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer: $231 negotiated price, down from $521 list price.
- Xarelto, a blood thinner from Johnson & Johnson; $197 negotiated price, down from $517 list price.
- Januvia, a diabetes drug from Merck: $113 negotiated price, down from $527 list price.
- Jardiance, a diabetes drug from Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly: $197 negotiated price, down from $573 list price.
- Enbrel, a rheumatoid arthritis drug from Amgen: $2,355 negotiated price, down from $7,106 list price.
- Imbruvica, a drug for blood cancers from AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson: $9,319 negotiated price, down from $14,934 list price.
- Farxiga, a drug for diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease from AstraZeneca: $178 negotiated price, down from $556 list price.
- Entresto, a heart failure drug from Novartis: $295 negotiated price, down from $628 list price.
- Stelara, a drug for psoriasis and Crohn’s disease from J&J: $4,695 negotiated price, down from $13,836 list price.
- Fiasp and NovoLog, diabetes drugs from Novo Nordisk: $119 negotiated price, down from $495 list price.
The new negotiated prices were compared to the 2023 list prices of the drugs. Medicare provides health insurance coverage to more than 65 million people in the U.S.
Administration officials said the new negotiated prices are projected to save Medicare enrollees $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs in the first year.
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, is set to lower the cost of prescription drugs — including cancer medications, blood thinners and insulin — for millions of Americans.
The $1.5 billion is in addition to the savings from other provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, which include a $35 monthly cap on the out-of-pocket cost of insulin and an annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs, officials said.
FOX 26 spoke with Alejandra Rischan, a coordinator with the Houston-Galveston Area Council, said this will have a major impact.
"We’re really excited to see the cost go down with these. We’re expecting to see a 60-70% range when prices do go into place, so it’s really exciting to see. People have to make tough decisions, especially with how inflation is, having to make those tough calls about whether they can afford medication or food," Rischan said.
The prices won't take effect until 2026.