CMS Announces New Prices from Medicare Drug Negotiations

August 15, 2024

CMS announced the results from the first round of price negotiations between Medicare and the makers of 10 of the most used and expensive prescription drugs.

Medicare would have saved an estimated $6 billion in net covered prescription drug costs if the prices had been in effect this year, federal officials said. The government also projected people enrolled in Medicare prescription drug coverage would save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket savings for Medicare Part D enrollees for 2026.

The new list prices for the 10 Medicare Part D drugs will go into effect beginning January 1, 2026. The products—which include popular blood thinners, diabetes medications, and heart failure drugs—accounted for about 20 percent ($56.2 billion) in Part D costs.

“For the first time ever, Medicare negotiated directly with drug companies and the American people are better off for it,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

The drug price negotiations are a main component of the Biden administration’s overall goal to act on the price of prescription drugs, but the initiative has faced legal scrutiny from manufacturers and others in the business community.

CMS announced the following negotiated list prices for 30-day supplies of the following drugs for calendar year 2026:

• Eliquis, blood thinner, $231 (down from $521).
• Enbrel, rheumatoid arthritis, $2,355 (down from $7,106).
• Entresto, heart failure, $295 (down from $628).
• Farxiga, diabetes, $178 (down from $556).
• Fiasp, diabetes, $119 (down from $495).
• Imbruvica, blood cancers, $9,319 (down from $14,934).
• Jardiance, diabetes, $197 (down from $573).
• Januvia, diabetes, $113 (down from $527).
• Stelara, psoriasis and Crohn’s disease, $4,695 (down from $13,836).
• Xarelto, blood thinner, $197, (down from $517).

CMS will select 15 more drugs covered under Part D for negotiation for 2027 by February 1, 2025. It also will pick 15 more drugs covered by Part B or Part D for 2028, and up to 20 more Part B or Part D drugs for each year after that, federal officials said.

A press release and fact sheet from CMS are available online.