It is believed that President Biden’s new Medicare drug-price negotiation program will save taxpayers $6 billion in its first year. However, the pharmaceutical industry and Republicans are against it because they think it could stop new drugs from being made and make older ones less available.
President Biden’s Medicare Drug-Price Negotiation Program to Save $6 Billion, Faces Criticism from Pharma and Republicans
The Washington Times says that on August 15, 2024, President Joe Biden said that the new Medicare drug-price negotiation scheme would save taxpayers $6 billion in the first year. As part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, this program will lower the prices of ten expensive drugs to begin with in 2026. In the future, it will cover more drugs. Biden said that seniors on Medicare will save $1.5 billion on their drug costs, which is good news for a lot of them.
The drug business and some Republicans have said bad things about the program. They say that the process makes drug companies lower their prices and could cause fewer new drugs to be made. Also, they think this scheme is a lot like a socialist price system, which could make it harder to come up with new drugs.
Congressional Budget Office Projects $100 Billion Savings from Medicare Drug-Price Negotiation Program, Amid Criticisms
The Congressional Budget Office thinks the program will save $100 billion by 2031. It may also slightly lower the number of new drugs that come out on the market. Some critics say the program doesn’t do anything about the problems caused by middlemen in drug pricing, but the Biden administration is sure it will help lower costs for seniors and may even change how drugs are priced in general.