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Highly sought-after diabetes drugs linked to weight loss, produced by Danish manufacturer Novo Nordisk, are among the drugs whose prices will be subject to price controls by Medicare.
On Friday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the second list of prescription drugs covered by Medicare Part D. The list includes 15 drugs, billed as an effort to reduce the financial burden for millions of patients aged 65 years. and older.
It includes weight loss and diabetes drugs from Novo Nordisk, Wegovy and Ozempic, as well as Xtandi, Ibrance, Calquence and Pomalyst, drugs that treat prostate, breast, blood and bone marrow cancers. Price controls for newly selected drugs will come into force in 2027.
OALITION CALLS ON CONGRESS TO REPEAL BIDEN’S PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICE CONTROLS
Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed into law in 2022, Medicare received the authority to set lower prices on certain covered, high-cost drugs.
While the IRA refers to “negotiation,” the text of the legislation authorizes CMS to set a “maximum fair price” for a drug. The pharmaceutical company must then “reach an agreement” on the price. If they don’t, the government will impose a daily excise tax on every drug sold above the “maximum fair price.”
The move was criticized by drugmakers, including Novo Nordisk, which told FOX Business it “remains opposed to government price-fixing through the IRA and has serious concerns about the manner in which the law is applied by this administration, in particular by grouping together several products which, individually, do not meet the requirements of the law. »
The company believes the pricing process could “negatively impact patients’ ability to access their medicines and threatens to stifle future scientific development of life-changing medicines for chronic diseases for which there is a real unmet need.
In October 2023, shortly after the announcement of the first 10 drugs, a coalition of more than 40 groups called on Congress to repeal the drug price negotiation program included in the IRA, arguing that the system of price controls put in place by the IRA Biden administration This will ultimately lead to drug shortages and increased costs.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare received the authority to set lower prices on certain high-cost covered drugs. (Photo by Andreas Arnold/photo alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The coalition of more than 40 groups sent a letter to federal lawmakers shortly after the Biden administration released its first list of 10 drugs, which included Merck’s diabetes drug Januvia, Johnson’s blood thinner Xarelto & Johnson, as well as the anticoagulant from Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb. Eliquis, in August 2023.
ADMIN BIDEN NAMES FIRST 10 DRUGS SUBJECT TO MEDICARE PRICE NEGOTIATION
According to the administration, approximately 5.3 million Medicare Part D beneficiaries used the newly selected drugs for conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes and asthma between November 2023 and October 2024. During this period, drugs accounted for about $41 billion, or 14 percent. , of the total cost of Medicare Part D prescriptions.
The Biden administration released another list of prescription drugs that would be subject to price controls. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Last year, we proved that negotiating lower drug prices worked. We now plan to build on this record by negotiating lower prices for 15 additional important medicines for older people,” the ministry secretary said. of Health and Social Services, Xavier Becerra.
Becerra said the agency “will continue to negotiate in the best interests of people with Medicare to gain access to innovative, life-saving treatments at lower costs.”
Pharmacist Tzofit Moskovich, left, works at a computer station while Michelle Sorto, senior pharmacy technician at Walgreen Co., sorts files at a store in Oak Park, Ill., Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Here is the list of drugs selected for the second round of negotiations:
- Ozempic; Rybelsus; Wegovy
- Trelegy Ellipta
- Xtandi
- Pomalyst
- Ibrance
- Ofev
- Linzesse
- Calquence
- Austedo; Austedo XR
- Breo Ellipta
- Tradjenta
- Xifaxan
- Vraylar
- Janumet; Janumet XR
- Take it away
