Medicare Names First Drugs For Price Negotiations in Historic Announcement

WASHINGTON — In response to the Biden administration’s announcement of ten prescription drugs that will be eligible for Medicare price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act, Health Care for America Now Education Fund Executive Director Margarida Jorge issued the following statement:

 

“The Inflation Reduction Act continues to deliver on lowering health care costs for millions of Americans and reining in corporate greed with historic reforms that will help patients, rein in profits and save taxpayers billions. President Biden and Democrats in Congress kept their promises on lowering drug prices. Now, for the first time ever, Medicare will finally have the power to negotiate lower prices on some of the most expensive and commonly prescribed medications for seniors and people with disabilities.

 

For years the pharmaceutical industry has used their monopoly control over prices to drive up the cost of prescription medications and inflate their profits while millions of patients rationed medicine, skipped doses or racked up debt to afford prescriptions. Now, the Biden Administration is reversing that trend by finally enabling Medicare to negotiate fairer prices just as the Veteran’s Administration and Medicaid have done for decades.

 

We’ve waited long enough for these reforms, but we know that pharmaceutical corporations will stop at nothing to maintain their exorbitant profits. Several of the country’s largest drug companies are suing to overturn the Inflation Reduction Act’s price negotiations, and their Republican allies in Congress are trying to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s most popular provisions before they even take effect. We’re depending on the Biden administration to fully implement the law and to build on the success of these reforms so that millions more Americans of all ages and with every kind of health coverage can also get lower drug prices.”