On Jan. 17th, the Biden Administration announced 15 additional prescription drugs selected for Medicare price negotiations, including drugs to fight diabetes and treat cancers, asthma, and heart disease
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), as well as patients and health care advocates, at a press conference on Capitol Hill to call on the Trump Administration to continue Medicare drug price negotiations and follow through on promises to lower prescription drug prices. Senator Welch highlighted Democrats’ success in delivering savings to patients in Vermont and nationwide by finally giving Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices through the Inflation Reduction Act.
“One of the biggest causes of anxiety for families is figuring out how to afford health care. What Democrats did with the Inflation Reduction Act was stand up for everyday Americans, protect them from rip-off prices, and help lower prescription drug costs. But just within the last two days, we’ve seen the Trump Administration trying to roll back on these protections. Senate Democrats are against that,” said Senator Welch. “We have to stick up for the people that we represent—hardworking families in red states and blue states—to ensure that everyone can get the lifesaving medication they need.”
Watch a livestream and view photos from the press conference below:
Medicare’s drug price negotiation program, a major long-term cost-saving feature of the Inflation Reduction Act, grants Medicare the authority to negotiate prices for up to 60 medications to help make life-saving drugs more affordable to patients. Provisions from Sens. Welch and Klobuchar’s bill to end the ban on Medicare negotiating lower prescription drug prices for Medicare’s 50 million seniors, introduced during Welch’s tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives, were incorporated into the legislation.
On January 17th, the Biden Administration announced it selected 15 additional prescription drugs for Medicare price negotiations. These newly announced prescription drugs—together with ten drugs already negotiated last year—represent nearly a third of all Medicare Part D spending on prescription drugs and treat conditions such as diabetes and cancer.
The 15 new drugs selected include:
- Ozempic; Rybelsus; Wegovy, for Type 2 diabetes.
- Trelegy Ellipta, an asthma treatment.
- Xtandi, for prostate cancer.
- Pomalyst, a chemotherapy drug.
- Ibrance, a breast cancer drug.
- Ofev, for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
- Linzess, a chronic constipation drug.
- Calquence, a cancer drug.
- Austedo; Austedo XR, for Huntington’s disease.
- Breo Ellipta, a Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) drug.
- Tradjenta, a diabetes drug.
- Xifaxan, for diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome.
- Vraylar, an antipsychotic drug.
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