Negotiating for Lower Drug Prices Works, Saves Billions

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By Michael Cabonargi

August 15, 2024

Guest Opinion. President Biden always says that the ability to afford needed medicines is about dignity, hope, and fairness. Those words have been at the center of the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to implement the President’s lower cost prescription drug law, also known as the Inflation Reduction Act. This week marks a historic milestone, as the Biden-Harris Administration announced new, lower prices for 10 drugs selected for the first cycle of Medicare drug price negotiations. 

As Regional Director at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), part of my job is to spread the word across the Midwest about the Inflation Reduction Act’s new benefits. As I’ve traveled around the Midwest, I’ve spoken with countless Midwesterners who are shocked to learn that – until now – the Medicare program was prohibited from negotiating directly with drug companies on behalf of enrollees. But the Biden-Harris Administration’s lower cost prescription drug law lifted that prohibition, paving the way for lower prices for enrollees and shoring up the promise of Medicare for our children and grandchildren. Last year, we announced the 10 drugs selected for the first cycle of negotiations, which included costly, life-saving medicines like Eliquis, a medicine used to prevent blood clots, and Januvia, a treatment for type 2 diabetes. Altogether, about nine million people with Medicare used one or more of the 10 selected drugs in 2023, costing taxpayers over $56 billion. Finally, we’re moving the needle to bring those costs down.   

On August 15, 2024, President Biden and Vice President Harris announced the new, lower prices agreed upon between HHS and the participating drug companies. These new, lower prices will go into effect on January 1, 2026 – ushering in a new era of savings for people with Medicare and the Medicare program. If these prices had been in effect in 2023, they would have saved Medicare an estimated $6 billion, or 22 percent of what Medicare spent on those drugs – that’s money saved for taxpayers and working families. 

This is just the beginning. Under the President’s law, new drugs will be selected for negotiation each year, creating the potential to benefit even more seniors and people with disabilities with Medicare, and saving taxpayers more money. To read more about the drugs selected for negotiation and the new prices, go to LowerDrugCosts.gov or MedicamentosBajoPrecio.gov.

Access to life-saving prescription drugs should not force working families to make gut-wrenching decisions, like forgoing needed medicines in order to keep food on the table or pay rent. This is what our work to implement the law is all about – and this week, we are proud to usher in a new era for Medicare marked by better prices, hope, and peace of mind.

Michael Cabonargi serves as Regional Director of the Great Lakes Region (Region V) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), responsible for Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and 34 indigenous tribal
nations.