Medicare officials announced on Nov. 25 the negotiated prices for 15 of the program’s most expensive drugs, anticipating a 36 percent decrease in costs that could shave $8.5 billion annually in net prescription expenses beginning in 2027.
Annual price negotiations, started under the Biden administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to bargain directly with pharmaceutical companies, which had been prohibited under the law.
