Cost Cuts Are Coming for 10 Drugs: What People on Medicare Should Know [CNET]

Savings won’t hit until 2026, but the White House’s announcement is a big step in negotiations with drugmakers to reduce prices on high-cost medicine.

The White House on Thursday announced the first batch of 10 medications that will have lower prices for people with Medicare Part D. The drugs included treat common health conditions, such as diabetes, blood clots and more. 

Prices won’t go into effect until 2026, but this is the first step into the Biden-Harris administration’s initiative to lower out-of-pocket costs for people on Medicare, through the Inflation Reduction Act. Negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and the US Department of Health and Services have reduced list prices for the following drugs, between 38% and 79%, per the White House: 

• Eliquis (taken for blood clot treatment or prevention) 
• Jardiance (diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease) 
• Xarelto (blood clots and coronary or peripheral artery disease) 
• Januvia (diabetes) 
• Farxiga (diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease) 
• Entresto (heart failure) 
• Enbrel (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis) 
• Imbruvica (cancers of the blood) 
• Stelara (psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) 
• Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen and NovoLog PenFill (diabetes) 

In 2023, more than 50 million people who receive Medicare were enrolled in Medicare Part D plans, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. About 65 million are covered by Medicare. The drugs selected for price negotiations are among those with “highest total spending” for Medicare Part D, according to the White House. 

When the new prices go into effect in 2026, the administration estimates, people with Medicare Part D will collectively save about $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs. 

More ways to save money on drugs and medicine 

The freshly announced lower prices for 10 common drugs are important because they reflect a negotiation at the source: drugmakers and the price set for prescriptions needed by seniors and people with disabilities. 

But as prices for drugs and medications have continued to climb in recent years, some companies and services have popped up that may help people save money on common medications or high-cost drugs. Besides working with your insurance provider and doctor to find ways to save through Medicare or private insurance, you can shop around at some of the following sites or companies to take the edge off sky-high drug prices: 

Cost Plus Drugs: Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company is an online marketplace designed to offer medications at lower prices than retail pharmacies. You can search the list of medications it offers.

GoodRX, SingleCare and other websites: Sites like GoodRX and SingleCare are designed to help you shop around and find the best discounts on your prescriptions. 

Amazon RxPass: If you’re an Amazon Prime user, you can bump up your membership for $5 more per month and use RxPass, a subscription service that offers members access to some generic medications at no additional cost. Amazon recently extended availability to Medicare recipients. This may not be worth it to you if you don’t already pay for Amazon Prime (it costs $15 per month before you add RxPass), but it’s something to consider if you already have it. Check out the list of medications included with the RxPass subscription here to decide if it’s worth it to you.

If you use Amazon Pharmacy, you can also take advantage of its automatic coupon feature, which automatically applies discounts at checkout. 

Your local pharmacist: Because they deal with insurance and prescriptions all day long, pharmacists may have excellent advice on which discount to use or how to approach prescription refills. You can also look for discount tools or programs through retail chains, like CVS or Walmart.