The Biden administration, in its last full weekday in office, announced the next 15 drugs up for Medicare price negotiation. Blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic is on the list.
That means the federal government and the pharmaceuticals industry are about to go head-to-head once again. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services negotiated prices for a first batch of drugs last year — something it could only do because of the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022. Those new prices go into effect in January 2026.
For the second group of drugs, discussions between the federal government and manufacturers will take up most of 2025. “Once again, we have a chance to negotiate a better deal for the American people,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “We believe that we can be successful once again.”
The list includes:
- Ozempic, Tradjenta, Janumet (type 2 diabetes)
- Rybelsus (type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease)
- Wegovy (obesity, cardiovascular disease)
- Trelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta (asthma, COPD)
- Xtandi (prostate cancer)
- Pomalyst (Kaposi sarcoma, multiple myeloma)
- Ibrance (breast cancer)
- Ofev (some pulmonary fibrosis)
- Linzess (some forms of chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome)
“It’s obviously a big deal that Medicare will be negotiating the price for Ozempic and Wegovy,” says Dr. Ben Rome, a physician and health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School. “This is a tremendous opportunity for the Medicare program to negotiate a fair price that will allow the drug to be affordable for patients and for the government.”
He added that since the list includes drugs that treat so many conditions, the negotiations will have a broad impact.
The 15 new drugs combined with the 10 drugs in the first batch represent about a third of Medicare Part D spending on prescription drugs, Becerra said.
“It is important to remember that for some people, this is a big deal,” Becerra said. “Some folks have to cut the pills in half or skip a dose in their prescription so that they can make their prescription last longer until they can afford to buy the next batch of drugs.”