BFD: At Long Last, Medicare Opens Drug Price Negotiations

The Biden administration announced Thursday that it made its opening bids as part of Medicare's historic drug price negotiation program, which major pharmaceutical companies are working hard to kill in court.

The initial offers, which were not made public, were sent to the manufacturers of the 10 drugs that the Biden administration selected for the initial round of price negotiations. Additional medicines will be subject to price negotiations in later years.

The companies—including Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Amgen—have 30 days to either accept Medicare's proposed maximum fair price for the selected medicines or put forth a counteroffer. Over the coming spring and summer, Biden administration officials will hold negotiation meetings with drug company representatives to resolve price disputes if the government doesn't accept the drugmakers' counters.

In September, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will publish the negotiated prices, which won't take effect until 2026.

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