Thanks to President Biden and Democrats in Congress, Medicare is currently negotiating lower prices for the costliest prescription drugs. Lower prices for the first 10 drugs selected for negotiation will take effect in 2026, and by 2030, up to 80 drugs will have lower negotiated prices. A new report by the Center for American Progress estimated prices for the drugs currently undergoing price negotiations with Medicare, finding price reductions will be as high as nearly $80,000 for some drugs. Even as they make billions of dollars in revenue, big drug companies are suing in court to protect their sky-high profits by blocking the Medicare negotiation program so they can continue to charge patients unaffordable prices. Republicans in Congress have introduced legislation to repeal not only the negotiation program, but also the new $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on Medicare prescription drug costs, which takes effect in 2025.
Estimated Savings For Patients Taking The First 10 Drugs Subject to Medicare Negotiation
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Eliquis by approximately $1,488. More than 3.5 million Medicare Part D patients take the blood clot drug produced by Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer, which charge U.S. patients 3–7 times more than patients in other high income countries like Switzerland and Australia. The companies have spent a combined $101 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors and have reported a combined $106 billion in sales from Eliquis since launching the drug.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Enbrel by approximately $30,912. Nearly 50,000 Medicare Part D patients take the rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis drug produced by Amgen, which charges U.S. patients 4–13 times more than patients in other high income countries like Switzerland and Japan. Amgen paid its CEO over $21 million last year and has spent $89 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors since launching the drug. The company has reported over $84 billion in sales from Enbrel.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Entresto by approximately $3,444. 521,000 Medicare Part D patients take the heart failure drug produced by Novartis, which charges U.S. patients 3–9.5 times more than patients in other high income countries like Switzerland and Japan. Novartis gave its CEO a 21 percent raise last year and has spent over $44 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors since launching the drug. The company has reported over $20 billion in sales from Entresto.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Farxiga by approximately $1,992. Nearly 640,000 Medicare Part D patients take the diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease drug produced by AstraZeneca, which charges U.S. patients 7–15 times more than patients in other high income countries like Switzerland and Australia. AstraZeneca paid its CEO over $21 million last year, making him the highest-paid pharma CEO in Europe, and has spent nearly $35 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors since launching the drug. The company has reported nearly $21 billion in sales from Farxiga.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Fiasp/NovoLog by approximately $360. 763,000 Medicare Part D patients take the diabetes drug produced by Novo Nordisk, which charges U.S. patients 7–17.5 times more than patients in other high income countries like Switzerland and Australia. Novo Nordisk gave its CEO a 13 percent raise (around $10 million) last year and has spent $36 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors since launching the drug. The company has reported nearly $44 billion in sales from Fiasp/NovoLog formulations.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Imbruvica by approximately $78,576. Over 20,000 Medicare Part D patients take the blood cancer drug produced by AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson, which charge U.S. patients 1.5–5 times more than patients in other high income countries like Switzerland and Australia. The companies have spent a combined $91.2 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors and have reported a combined $58.5 billion in sales from Imbruvica since launching the drug.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Januvia by approximately $1,644. 885,000 Medicare Part D patients take the type 2 diabetes drug produced by Merck, which charges U.S. patients 5–20 times more than patients in other high income countries like Canada and Germany. Merck paid its CEO $52 million in total compensation in 2022 and has spent nearly $53 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors since launching the drug. The company has reported over $53 billion in sales from Januvia.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Jardiance by approximately $1,836. More than 1.3 million Medicare Part D patients take the type 2 diabetes drug produced by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, which charge U.S. patients 6–14 times more than patients in other high income countries like Switzerland and France. The companies have spent a combined $12.6 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors and have reported a combined $32.4 billion in sales from Jardiance since launching the drug.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Stelara by approximately $13,824. 20,000 Medicare Part D patients take the psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis drug produced by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Johnson & Johnson charges U.S. patients 2–7.5 times more than patients in other high income countries like Germany and Australia. Johnson & Johnson paid its CEO over $13 million in 2022 and has spent $78.2 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors since launching the drug. The company has reported over $64 billion in sales from Stelara.
- Medicare negotiation will cut the price of an annual supply of Xarelto by approximately $1,416. More than 1.3 million Medicare Part D patients take the blood clot drug produced by Johnson & Johnson and Bayer, which charge U.S. patients 3–8 times more than patients in other high income countries like Japan and Australia. The companies have spent a combined $54.8 billion on stock buybacks to reward investors and have reported a combined $64.3 billion in sales from Xarelto since launching the drug.