North Cook News

WASHINGTON – On August 29, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), a Chief Deputy Whip, Ranking Member of the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Co-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Task Force on Aging and Families, celebrated the Biden administration announcement of the first ten drugs that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will negotiate lower prices for using its new authorities under the Inflation Reduction Act. Schakowsky attended the White House ceremony marking this historic day and released the following statement:

“For far too long, our laws have allowed Big Pharma to rake in record profits by increasing the costs of lifesaving prescription drugs. Today’s historic announcement from President Joe Biden will decrease costs for up to 9 million seniors on Medicare who currently pay as much as $6,500 in out-of-pocket costs per year for these prescriptions.

“Americans pay two to three times as much as people in other countries for the same prescription drugs. For years, other nations have negotiated prescription drug costs and, thanks to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act last year, Medicare will be able to do the same, making drug costs more affordable for America’s seniors. Not a single Republican in Congress voted for this bill. After two decades, Big Pharma’s greedy malpractice ends now. Today’s announcement begins the process of Medicare negotiating lower prices on ten crucial drugs and the start of Big Pharma being held accountable for their price gouging.

“I was honored to be at the White House today for this important announcement. For my entire career, I have been on the frontline fighting to ensure that everyone has access to quality, affordable health care, including prescription drugs. Thanks to the work of Democrats in Congress and President Biden, seniors are already benefiting from the Inflation Reduction Act’s monthly $35 cap on insulin and penalties on pharmaceutical companies for raising prices faster than inflation. There is still more work to be done, but today’s announcement is a major step in ensuring that all Americans have access to the health care they need and deserve.” 

Over the next four years, Medicare will negotiate prices for up to 60 drugs covered under Medicare Part D and Part B, and up to an additional 20 drugs every year after that. The first 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiation are:

• Eliquis, a blood clot drug
• Jardiance, a diabetes and heart failure drug
• Xarelto, a blood clot drug
• Januvia, a diabetes drug
• Farxiga, a drug that treats diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease
• Entresto, a heart failure drug
• Enbrel, an arthritis drug
• Imbruvica, a blood cancer drug
• Stelera, a drug that treats psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
• Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen and NovoLog PenFill, which treat diabetes

Original source can be found here.