U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders welcomed the Biden administration's decision to include Ozempic and Wegovy in Medicare drug price negotiations but emphasized the program's future depends on President-elect Donald Trump. The pharmaceutical industry reportedly seeks to weaken the program, while Trump's nominee for HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., would oversee the negotiations. The announcement follows reports of the pharmaceutical industry pressuring Trump's team to weaken the program established by the Inflation Reduction Act. Experts foresee three potential scenarios for the Trump administration: maintaining the program, weakening it, or repealing it.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed his approval on Friday regarding the Biden administration's decision to include the costly and increasingly popular drugs Ozempic and Wegovy in a list of 15 medications slated for price negotiations. However, Sanders emphasized this inclusion contingent on President-elect Donald Trump 's willingness to let the Medicare price-negotiation program continue.
In a statement, Sanders questioned whether Trump would uphold his past criticism of Big Pharma and ensure all Americans, not just those on Medicare, pay prices comparable to those in other countries for Ozempic and Wegovy. He also challenged whether Trump would back down from his commitment and allow the pharmaceutical industry to maintain its exorbitant pricing practices by circumventing the government's authority to negotiate prices. Sanders, known for publicly scrutinizing pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk's CEO regarding the high prices of Ozempic and Wegovy, stated, 'We will soon find out.' Reports from Reuters indicate that following the 2024 election, the pharmaceutical industry began pressuring Trump's team to weaken the price negotiation program established by the Inflation Reduction Act. The drug industry reportedly aims to leverage Republican efforts to eliminate certain energy and green subsidy provisions within the legislation. Despite this pressure, the drug industry is not actively lobbying senators against confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If confirmed, Kennedy would oversee the price-negotiation program. Tricia Neuman, senior vice president at KFF, outlined three potential scenarios for the Trump administration regarding the Medicare negotiations program: maintaining the current course, diluting its provisions, or repealing it entirely. Neuman noted that each option presents tradeoffs, but maintaining the status quo would likely be the most popular choice. Meanwhile, the HHS affirmed on Friday that the 15 newly selected drugs, adding to the 10 medications that have already undergone price negotiations, accounted for approximately $41 billion in total gross covered prescription drug costs under Medicare Part D. This represents over a third of the total gross covered prescription drug costs under Medicare Part D for both the 15 newly selected drugs and the 10 drugs from the first negotiation cycle. If the Trump administration permits negotiations on these 15 drugs to proceed, the new prices would take effect in 2027. Merith Basey, executive director of Patients for Affordable Drugs, hailed the announcement as a continuation of progress made in lowering drug costs. Basey stated that for years, drug corporations have exploited the system by arbitrarily raising prices, leaving millions of patients vulnerable. The 2022 prescription drug law enabled Medicare to negotiate better deals on 10 of the most expensive and commonly used drugs last year. Today's announcement of 15 additional high-cost drugs builds on this historic progress and will lower costs for millions more patients in 2027. However, Basey stressed the need to continuously advocate for expanding the Medicare negotiation program, emphasizing that patients fought hard for its implementation and will defend it against pharma's attacks. She concluded that no one should have to choose between life-saving drugs and their fundamental needs
MEDICARE DRUG PRICES OZEMPIC WEGOVY DONALD TRUMP ROBERT KENNEDY JR. PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY INFLATION REDUCTION ACT HHS
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