President Biden is Standing Up to Drug Companies’ Greed and Lowering Drug Prices for People on Medicare
Washington, DC – The Biden administration just announced the first round of high-cost drugs whose prices will come down as Medicare negotiates with the drug companies – a new power they have under the Inflation Reduction Act. This new program will lower prices for some of the highest-priced prescription drugs on the market used to treat conditions like cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders – conditions that disproportionately impact women, communities of color, and people in rural areas. The 10 drugs are:
- Eliquis which is sold by Bristol Myers Squibb to treat blood clots
- Enbrel which is sold by Amgen to treat arthritis and psoriasis
- Entresto which is sold by Novartis to treat heart failure
- Farxiga which is sold by AstraZeneca to treat diabetes
- Fiasp/NovoLog which is sold by Novo Nordisk to treat diabetes
- Imbruvica which is sold by AbbVie to treat leukemia and lymphoma
- Januvia which is sold by Merck to treat diabetes
- Jardiance which is sold by Boehringer Ingelheim to treat diabetes
- Stelara which is sold by Johnson & Johnson to treat psoriasis and Crohn’s disease
- Xarelto which is sold by Johnson & Johnson to treat blood clots
President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is bringing down drug costs by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug costs and penalizing drug companies for raising prices faster than inflation. Negotiating lower prices is overwhelmingly popular across the country, yet big drug companies are suing the federal government to protect their massive profits by halting the program while Republicans are attempting to repeal it. President Biden and Democrats in Congress are already working to expand these cost savings to more Americans, no matter what age they are or how they get their health insurance. Read more here.
Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“Americans deserve financial security and some peace of mind when they go to sleep at night. But, too many are forced to choose between being able to afford their medicines or paying for food or housing. Prescription medicines cannot work if people cannot afford to take them, and high drug prices are keeping too many Americans from the health care they need. Patients should not be paying out-of-control prices for medicines they need when all it’s doing is increasing drug company profits and footing the bill for outrageous CEO salaries. President Biden and Democrats in Congress stood up to big drug companies and won a decades-long battle to lower the cost of prescription drugs by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices. The Biden administration is laser-focused on making medications affordable for families and ending the era of drug companies’ unchecked power and greed.”