Merck & Co’s (MRK.N), opens new tab diabetes drug Januvia faces the steepest percentage price cut of the drugs on the list, decreasing 79%, while Novo Nordisk’s (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab insulin aspart products will face the second steepest of 76%, according to the government.
The other eight drugs on the list face cuts of between 68% and 38%
Before the Biden-Harris administration, drug price negotiations were just imaginary and impossible political desires.
Now it’s a concrete legacy of the Democratic party. Something to build upon.
This all sounds good until the drug companies decide not to sell to the government at the price Government wants to buy at. The companies will simply withdraw the drug from being available under Medicare.
Always be suspicious of politician’s claims of doing a “good” thing. They aren’t being transparent of the actual effective pricing. We also don’t see what the effect for seniors will be from this. Are they going to alter the cost model for what Medicare recipients pay, or just what government pays? And if this reduces availability there won’t be any savings for the people. But there might be for the program from attrition and reduced life expectancy.
Sure always wise to be skeptical but this reads like We scream for years to lower spending. Some one takes steps to lower spending and we complain about the lower spending.
It is projected to save billions of dollars, this is not a bad thing. And it lowers the responsibility of the patient in terms of co-pays. Plus, there is now an annual co-pay cap of 2 thousand dollars total, past that there is no more co-pay. All good things.
As far as to whether the insurance companies still sell to Medicare, remember every other insurance company, every other country’s health care system and even the VA has already gotten these discounts and PHARMA still sells to them. It would not make sense to omit the largest insurer in the country just because they get similar discounts to everyone else.
They are going to add 15-20 new drugs to the discount list each year, so the savings should add up fairly quickly. I have no idea why anyone would have a problem with Medicare paying less for drugs, but some folks have been fighting it tooth and nail for some reason.
