The price negotiation program, established by Democrats as part of the Inflation Reduction Act,
is expected to save the government tens of billions of dollars in the coming years.
The Biden administration on Tuesday announced
the first 10 medicines that will be subject to price negotiations with Medicare,
kicking off a landmark program that is expected to reduce
the government’s drug spending but is being fought by the pharmaceutical industry in court.
The medications on the list are taken by millions of older Americans and cost Medicare billions of dollars annually.
The drugs were selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services through a process
that prioritized medications that account for
the highest Medicare spending, have been on the market for years and do not yet face competition from rivals.