Diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have been added to the list of medications selected for Medicare price negotiations, federal health officials announced Friday.
The negotiations for the 15 additional drugs, which will be handled by the incoming administration, assure major savings for Americans.
In November, President Joe Biden had proposed expanding coverage of anti-obesity medications for Americans with Medicare and Medicaid, noting that drugs can cost as much as $1,000 a month without insurance.
The Medicare drug price negotiation program — that allows the federal health insurance program for people age 65 or older to negotiate the price of certain drugs with the companies that make them — was instituted following the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which President Joe Biden said “put the country on a path to lower drug prices.”
Republicans mostly opposed the drug negotiation plan at the time. It remains unclear if they have an interest in trying to repeal or weaken the law with thier control of Congress and the White House.
“Obesity is not a disease. It’s a side effect of different things, like unhealthy eating or whatever,” Tennessee Rep. Diana Harshbarger, a licensed pharmacist, told Semafor. “So no, I’m not in favor of that, because it’s going to put us in dire straits and run us out of money.”
“Obesity is such a chronic disease in America, so I’m certainly not opposed to them, and they’re helping a lot of people,” said Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. “But I do not support tax dollars being used to pay for that.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has wavered on weight loss drugs, saying last month that they “have a place.”
Kennedy would lead the negotiations for Medicare on Ozempic prices.
During the first round of negotiations last year, prices of some of the most commonly used drugs in Medicare were slashed by approximately 40 to 80 percent, according to a statement from President Biden.
“Last year we proved that negotiating for lower drug prices works. Now we plan to build on that record by negotiating for lower prices for 15 additional important drugs for seniors,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said/
Negotiations with participating drug companies will occur in 2025, and any negotiated prices will go into effect in 2027. Drug companies with a selected drug will have until the end of February to decide if they will participate in the negotiations.
While some drug companies have sued over the negotiations, they engaged in the talks with the federal government.
This announcement brings the list of selected drugs up to 25. Nearly two years ago, the administration announced 10 drugs selected for the first cycle of negotiations. Those prices will become effective starting in January 2026.
“In 2026, people with Medicare prescription drug coverage are expected to see aggregated estimated savings of $1.5 billion in their personal out-of-pocket costs,” the Department of Health and Human Services said.
In the future, an additional 15 drugs will be selected for the third cycle of negotiation.
With reporting from The Associated Press
