Medicare drug price negotiations continue, as drugmakers submit their counteroffers
Despite the legal battles with the federal government to block the CMS drug price negotiation program, the makers of all 10 drugs selected for the first round of negotiations submitted counteroffers by the March 2 deadline.
Despite continuing to contest the constitutionality of the Medicare price negotiation program, the makers of all 10 drugs selected for the first round of negotiations submitted counteroffers by the March 2 deadline.
“CMS is dedicated to improving access to some of the most expensive drugs for people with Medicare while encouraging market competition and fostering innovation through this first-of-its-kind negotiation process,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said. “Receiving counteroffers marks another negotiation milestone met in the continued implementation of the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, which is already lowering drug prices for people with Medicare.”
On February 1, CMS sent out initial offers for maximum fair prices for the first 10 drugs chosen for negotiation, including Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia and Farxiga. Drugmakers had until March 2 to send back counteroffers. Negotiations will continue over the next several months. If HHS and a participating manufacturer agree on a maximum fair price by the end of the negotiation period, new prices will be published by Sept. 1, 2024, and take effect beginning in 2026.
In future years, CMS will select up to 15 more drugs covered under Part D for negotiation for 2027; up to 15 more for 2028 (including drugs covered under Part B and Part D); and up to 20 more drugs for each year after that, as outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have opposed the federal government’s price negotiation program.
“The U.S. Chamber supports access to affordable medicine, but a government price control scheme is counterproductive and will restrict access to critical medicines, delay treatment for patients and jeopardize the search for new lifesaving cures,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer. “In its rush to implement the price control scheme, the Biden administration failed to examine the likely negative side effects of the policy.”
Related: Medicare drug price negotiations begin, as CMS sends initial offers to top drugmakers
The pharmaceutical industry is engaged in a legal battle with the federal government to block the Medicare negotiation. Drugmakers and trade groups have filed numerous lawsuits alleging the program violates federal law and is unconstitutional.
Since the start of the year, two of those lawsuits have gone in favor of the federal government. One lawsuit filed by the trade group PhRMA was dismissed last month, and a federal judge issued summary judgment last week in favor of Medicare negotiation in a case brought by AstraZeneca. Last week, four leading drugmakers – Bristol Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson – presented their arguments in New Jersey district court.