Merck announced it raked in $60.1 billion in 2023 – an $800 million increase over 2022 – during their earnings report today. While they make billions, Americans pay exorbitantly high prices for prescription drugs. Merck opposed the Biden administration reforms that lower prescription drug prices.
- While publicly Merck is claiming price negotiations will hurt the company, during the earnings call CEO Rob Davis bragged about the company’s future prospects saying, “we expect continued strong growth in 2024 driven by demand for our key products.”
- Over the course of 2023, Merck rewarded its shareholders with around $400 million in stock buybacks, with $143 million coming in the first quarter of 2023 alone.
- Merck is suing the Biden administration to stop Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices for patients because it would endanger their massive profits.
- Merck charges U.S. customers over twenty times more for Januvia than customers in other high-income countries.
- On aggregate, drug companies charge Americans prices up to four times higher than prices in other countries, forcing patients to cut pills and skip doses.
- Over 80 percent of voters support giving Medicare the power to negotiate, making it the most popular provision in the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Inflation Reduction Act brings down prescription drug costs for everyday Americans, especially seniors, by capping the price of insulin at $35 per month and providing free vaccines including shingles, giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices, and limiting the amount people have to pay each year for prescription drugs to $2,000 annually starting in 2025.
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Medicare Negotiations for Lower Drug Prices Explained: Januvia