President Biden did what his predecessor only talked about: he signed a new law that finally forces prescription drug corporations to negotiate lower prices in Medicare after years of padding their profits by price-gouging consumers on everything from insulin to heart medicines. Medicare negotiations will save patients and taxpayers billions over the coming decade once the law is fully implemented. The new law also penalizes drug corporations for increasing prices faster than inflation and caps the annual out-of-pocket costs that seniors and people with disabilities pay at the pharmacy for the first time.
U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly’s decision today to dismiss AstraZeneca’s frivolous lawsuit is another big will for the Biden Administration and the millions of Medicare enrollees who will get lower drug costs under the new Medicare reforms passed in 2022. This is the third favorable ruling against legal challenges to Medicare negotiations and we remain confident that we’ll see a similar ruling in the upcoming hearing on March 7th in the New Jersey hearing during which Bristol Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson will present their oral arguments against Medicare negotiations.
The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most opaque industries in America, and they take advantage of this lack of transparency by setting ever-higher prices for lifesaving prescription drugs like insulin. But provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act are curtailing the exorbitant price-gouging strategies that the pharmaceutical industry uses to pump up their profit margins at the expense of seniors and people with disabilities who use Medicare.
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Continue reading “Pitchfork Economics: Medicare Drug Price Negotiations with Margarida Jorge”
I have seen firsthand how affordable medicine can transform families and communities. I grew up in Richmond, one of four children. My family members and I have experienced many of the health conditions that come from the trauma of racism in this city and nation.
Last week, Medicare announced a list of ten drugs for lower drug price negotiations, kicking off a process that for the first time will require drug corporations to negotiate prices for some of the most expensive medicines in Medicare.
Under the new Medicare negotiations law,
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Continue reading “NC Newsline: It’s time to make prescription medications affordable for all”
DES MOINES — Iowa’s U.S. senators signaled opposition to a proposed plan from Senate Democrats aimed at lowering drug prices for Medicare recipients unveiled this week.
Sen. Joni Ernst and a spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Grassley, both Republicans, decried the plan as partisan in statements to the Lee Enterprises Des Moines Bureau.
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This is a once in a generation chance for Democrats to finally deliver on their promises to lower drug prices. At a time when the price of everything is going up, this bill, if enacted, would finally rein in big Pharma’s price-gouging and make medicines more affordable for millions of Americans.
