WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Popular weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have been added to Medicare’s list of medications that will be negotiated directly between the government and drug manufacturers, the Biden administration said Friday.
The price negotiations for the additional 15 drugs selected will be handled by the incoming Trump administration and almost assures billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers.
Besides Ozempic and Wegovy, some of the other medications include Trelegy Ellipta, which treats asthma; Otezla, a psoriatic arthritis drug; and several that treat different forms of cancer.
The list is a first step in negotiations and, given the timing, the details and final pricing will be left to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
“For some people this is a big deal,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a call with reporters on Thursday. “Some folks have to skip a dose in their prescription so they can make a prescription last longer.”
That brings the total to 25 drugs that will have lower price tags. Those 25 drugs account for a third of Medicare spending on prescriptions, Becerra said.
The savings will stem from a new law that allows Medicare to haggle over the price it pays on the most popular and expensive prescription drug scripts filled by older Americans. For years, Medicare had been legally prohibited from such dealmaking. The law, passed by Democrats and signed into law by President Joe Biden, was opposed by Republicans at the time, but it’s unclear if they have an interest in trying to repeal or weaken the law now.
Although drug companies have sued over the negotiations, they engaged in the talks with the federal government. Pharmaceutical executives last year had said during earnings calls that they don’t expect the new Medicare drug prices to impact their bottom line.
Late last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it had reached pricing deals with companies for 10 drugs in the inaugural round of negotiations. Under the new deals, list prices were reduced by hundreds — in some cases, thousands — of dollars for 30-day supplies of popular drugs used by millions of people on Medicare. They included popular blood thinners Xarelto and Eliquis and diabetes drugs Jardiance and Januvia.
The savings from the new list prices for those drugs were expected to generate about $6 billion for taxpayers and $1.5 billion for Medicare enrollees.
Negotiated prices for the drugs don’t kick in until 2026. But some Medicare enrollees should see relief from drug prices in a new rule this year that caps annual out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs to $2,000.
Under the law, more drugs will be added to the negotiation process in coming years.
Ozempic and Wegovy are made by Novo Nordisk, which is based in Denmark and has U.S. headquarters Plainsboro, New Jersey.
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