Murray Praises Major Wins for Patients From First Ever Medicare Drug Price Negotiations, Warns of Republican Plans to Repeal Progress in Project 2025

For nine of the ten drugs negotiated, negotiation will bring the price down by over 50% in 2026; new prices are expected to save millions of seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs in the first year of the program alone

Republicans have made clear in Project 2025 and elsewhere they are intent on repealing the Inflation Reduction Act-which authorized Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices

Murray:"While Republicans want to give all the power back to big pharma, Democrats believe in putting patients over drug company profits and continuing to force these companies to the negotiating table so Medicare can secure lower drug prices for the American people."

Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement in response to the Biden administration announcing the results of the first ever Medicare drug price negotiations. Senator Murray championed Medicare negotiation for years, and worked hard with her Democratic colleagues to provide new authority for Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for patients in the Inflation Reduction Act-which every single Republican voted against, and which leading conservative groups and lawmakers want to repeal.

"These lower drug prices negotiated by the Biden-Harris administration, using the authority Democrats empowered them with, will make a world of difference for countless patients when they go into effect in 2026. We are talking price cuts of hundreds and thousands of dollars a month which will help millions of patients across the country, and the law requires more drugs to be added to the negotiating table each year," said Senator Murray. "Make no mistake: this is the biggest step we have taken in over a decade to bring down drug prices and not only did every single Republican vote against it, but-as Project 2025 makes clear-Republicans are still scheming to repeal the entire Inflation Reduction Act under a Trump administration regardless of how that might hurt families. While Republicans want to give all the power back to big pharma, Democrats believe in putting patients over profits and continuing to force drug companies to the negotiating table so Medicare can secure lower drug prices for the American people."

Last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the first ten drugs selected for Medicare Price Negotiation: Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Enbrel, Imbruvica, Stelara, and NovoLog. Nine million U.S. seniors took these drugs in 2022, accounting for $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries. Through negotiations, Medicare reached new agreements with the manufacturers of all ten drugs-and for nine out of ten, the new price represents a cut of 50 percent or more. When the new, lower prices go into effect in 2026 people on Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for their prescription drugs and Medicare will save $6 billion in the first year alone.

More drugs will be selected each year as part of Medicare's drug price negotiation program. Medicare will select up to 15 additional drugs covered under Part D for negotiation in 2025, up to an additional 15 Part B and D drugs in 2026, and up to 20 drugs every year after that.

Project 2025, the conservative policy roadmap prepared for a future Trump Administration by many of his former top officials, calls for repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, as does a plan released by the Republican Study Committee. This would also mean repealing the authority for Medicare drug price negotiation.

To see a full list comparison of old prices versus new negotiated prices-see the fact sheet from CMS HERE.

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