President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on December 14, 2023.
Chris Kleponis | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the federal Medicare program should negotiate prices for at least 50 prescription drugs each year, up from the current goal of 20 drugs.
It’s one of several new health care policy proposals Biden will outline in his State of the Union address on Thursday, according to a fact sheet released by the White House on Wednesday. Many of these efforts seek to expand parts of the Inflation Reduction Act that are designed to make drugs more affordable for seniors and potentially reduce profits for the pharmaceutical industry.
“Medicare should not be limited to negotiating on just 20 drugs a year. Instead, the president proposes that Medicare be able to negotiate prices on the key drugs that seniors rely on, such as those used to treat heart disease, cancer and diabetes.” Fact Sheet Read.
Biden has made lowering U.S. drug prices a key pillar of his health care agenda and 2024 re-election platform. But the fate of his new proposals will lie in the hands of a divided Congress, making it highly uncertain whether they will become law.
The president’s call to increase the number of drugs eligible for negotiation with Medicare is likely to face the fiercest pushback from the pharmaceutical industry.
The Biden administration is already engaged in a fierce legal battle with several drugmakers over the negotiations. The government scored early victories in two separate cases on the matter this year, but the industry is aiming to escalate the issue to the Supreme Court.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the negotiation process last fall, announcing the first 10 drugs subject to price negotiations with Medicare. Negotiations for the drugs will conclude this fall, with new prices set to take effect in 2026.
After the first round of negotiations, Medicare can negotiate prices for 15 more drugs that will go into effect in 2027 and another 15 drugs that will go into effect in 2028. Under the current structure, the number of drugs negotiated per year will increase to 20 starting in 2019. 2029.
Last year, Biden indicated He hopes more drugs will come up for negotiation. Wednesday was the first time his administration specified a higher target number.
Neera Tanden, the president’s domestic policy adviser, told reporters Wednesday that the change “will not only save taxpayers billions of dollars, but more importantly, it will save lives and provide seniors with the care they need.” critical breathing space”. .
A White House fact sheet noted that the president’s budget cuts federal spending by $200 billion. This could increase the number of drugs Medicare can choose to negotiate and bring more drugs into the negotiation process more quickly.
The White House did not say whether the number of drugs in the proposal would gradually increase to 50 over the years, or whether the new number would apply starting in 2029. A senior administration official told reporters Wednesday that the president looks forward to working with Congress on the details of the proposal.
“We’ve put in place a system that we believe is working and will deliver lower prices to the American people, and we believe we can scale that,” the administration official said.
Other policy recommendations include capping Medicare copays at $2 for generic generic drugs and expanding the $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket drug costs to all private plans outside of Medicare.
Biden also wants to expand another provision of the bill Inflation reduction method When drug prices rise faster than inflation, drug companies are required to pay rebates to Medicare. The president wants the policy to apply to commercial drugs, not just those sold to Medicare.
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