Trump administration expands Medicare drug price talks with 15 more medications
The Trump administration on Tuesday announced a new list of 15 prescription drugs chosen for Medicare price negotiation, a process that lets the federal government haggle directly with drug manufacturers for medicines used by older Americans. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the government is targeting some of the most expensive drugs in Medicare and negotiating prices that are intended to be fair, according to a CMS statement.
Oz said the administration is taking what it described as “strong action” to address prescription costs that seniors and taxpayers have “paid the price” for over time. The announcement comes as negotiations proceed under a 2022 law that governs the program and sets the terms for when negotiated prices begin and which drugs qualify.
CMS said the negotiations that correspond to this year’s selected drugs have the potential to deliver significant savings when they go into effect in 2028. The program is in its third round, and officials said the deals negotiated this year could expand the total number of drugs receiving negotiated prices over time.
The federal government had until Feb. 1 to announce its list of 15 drugs for this year’s negotiations. The selected medicines include treatments for type 2 diabetes, HIV and arthritis, and CMS said some of the drugs are among those on which Medicare spends the most money.
Among the medications on this year’s list, CMS named Trulicity for type 2 diabetes and Biktarvy for HIV. The agency also said Botox will have its price negotiated for Medicare-covered uses, including treatments such as migraines or overactive bladders. CMS listed additional therapies for conditions including psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, chronic lung disease, depression and various cancers.
CMS also said this year’s negotiations include the neurotoxin Botox and specify that Botox Cosmetic will be negotiated for Medicare-covered uses. In addition to the drugs newly selected for negotiation, CMS said one type 2 diabetes drug whose price was previously negotiated under the program—Tradjenta—will undergo renegotiation.
The program’s scope is also expanding in a policy shift described by CMS as the first time drugs payable under Medicare Part B are eligible for inclusion. CMS said that Part B drugs are outpatient prescriptions, including medications that are infused or injected at a doctor’s office, while retail prescriptions covered by Medicare Part D have been eligible in past years.
CMS said that over the past year, some 1.8 million Medicare Part B or Part D enrollees used the 15 drugs, and that the medicines accounted for about 6% in total Part B and Part D spending, according to the announcement. CMS also said the new negotiations would build on earlier negotiated prices, including the first 10 drugs negotiated by the Biden administration in 2024 that began taking effect at the start of this year and a set of negotiated drugs CMS announced in November that were scheduled to go into effect in 2027.
AARP called the announcement progress toward lowering drug prices. Its CEO, Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, said in a statement that “Lowering drug prices is a top priority,” and thanked the administration for protecting Medicare’s ability to meet that need, adding that it is a priority “across the political spectrum.”
Pharmaceutical industry groups criticized the approach, focusing on the 2022 law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act. PhRMA’s Executive Vice President of Policy and Research Elizabeth Carpenter said in a statement that the IRA “continues to show why government price setting is the wrong approach for Americans,” and argued policymakers should instead target insurers and third-party pharmacy benefit managers.
The administration’s full list of new medications up for negotiation includes: Anoro Ellipta, Biktarvy, Botox and Botox Cosmetic, Cimzia, Cosentyx, Entyvio, Erleada, Kisqali, Lenvima, Orencia, Rexulti, Trulicity, Verzenio, Xeljanz and Xeljanz XR, and Xolair.