Most used drugs on Medicare price negotiation list: See the highest 3

Two blood thinners and a diabetes medication are the drugs most generally utilized by Medicare beneficiaries amongst a list of 10 drugs that can be subject to cost negotiations between manufacturers and Medicare. 

The Biden administration unveiled the much-awaited list Tuesday, kicking off a process that goals to lower drug costs for older adults within the U.S. The list names drugs with the very best spending for Medicare Part D, which covers prescription medications, for the period from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023.

Bristol-Myers Squibb‘s blood thinner Eliquis was probably the most widely used during that point period, with 3.7 million Medicare enrollees using it, in keeping with a fact sheet from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS. 

Eliquis, co-developed by Pfizer, is used to stop blood clotting and reduce the danger of stroke.

The second most used drug was Boehringer Ingelheim’s Jardiance, which lowers blood sugar for individuals with Type 2 diabetes. Nearly 1.6 million Medicare enrollees used Jardiance in the course of the same time period, in keeping with the actual fact sheet. 

Johnson & Johnson’s blood thinner Xarelto was third, as about 1.3 million beneficiaries used the medication during that point.

Medicare Part D also spent more on those three drugs in the course of the time period than it did on the seven other medicines on the list. The plan spent $16.5 billion on Eliquis, roughly $7 billion on Jardiance and $6 billion on Xarelto, in keeping with CMS.

In total, the ten medicines accounted for $50.5 billion, or about 20%, of total Part D prescription drug costs from June 2022 to May 2023, CMS said.

Around 50.5 million patients are currently enrolled in Part D plans, in keeping with health policy research organization KFF. Greater than 8.2 million use the ten drugs on the list. 

Drugmakers should sign agreements to affix the negotiations by Oct. 1. CMS will then make an initial price offer to manufacturers in February 2024, and people corporations have a month to simply accept or make a counteroffer. 

The negotiations will end in August 2024, with agreed-upon prices published on Sept. 1, 2024. The reduced prices won’t go into effect until January 2026.