Biden To Announce Drug Price Agreements After First Negotiations With Manufacturers

The first-ever negotiations between the federal government and pharmaceutical companies have led to agreements that will lower the prices of 10 treatments, reducing costs for the Medicare program and for some individual seniors, the Biden administration announced early Thursday morning.

This round of negotiations began one year ago and took place because of the Inflation Reduction Act, the law that Democrats in Congress passed on a party-line vote and that President Joe Biden signed two years ago. The new prices are for drugs covering a variety of conditions, including diabetes and inflammatory illnesses, and will take effect in January 2026.

The negotiation process is going to happen each year, with a new set of drugs each time.

“ When these lower prices go into effect, people on Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for their prescription drugs and Medicare will save $6 billion in the first year alone,” Biden said in a prepared statement. “It’s a relief for the millions of seniors that take these drugs to treat everything from heart failure, blood clots, diabetes, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and more ― and it’s a relief for American taxpayers.”

The administration plans to release more specifics about the agreements, along with ― maybe ― more details on how it reached those figures for savings.

And though it remains unclear exactly what data the administration will reveal and when, the price reductions are expected to be the focus of remarks when Biden appears with Vice President Kamala Harris in a joint event Thursday in Maryland.

Thursday’s event has clear political relevance for Harris, the Democratic nominee for president who is campaigning against former President Donald Trump, the Republican