It is a milestone in a controversial process that aims to make costly medications more affordable for older Americans but is strongly opposed by drugmakers.
_By February 2025, the Biden administration will also unveil up to 15 more drugs that will be subject to the next round of price talks, with agreed-upon prices going into effect in 2027. Drugmakers will have until the end of that month to decide whether to participate in the program.
After that second round, CMS can negotiate prices for another 15 drugs that will go into effect in 2028. The number rises to 20 negotiated medications a year starting in 2029.
“Sometimes I think people get caught up in the fact that their drug isn’t on the list, but it will be on the list at some point in the future if they’re taking a drug that’s resulting in high costs,” Purvis said. _
It takes effort to do the RFQs and organize that fairly. That’s one RFQ every couple of weeks. The solution would be to hire a bunch more procurement officers to process more RFQs.
They can at least target the drugs that make the biggest impact.
It’s only the beginning:
_By February 2025, the Biden administration will also unveil up to 15 more drugs that will be subject to the next round of price talks, with agreed-upon prices going into effect in 2027. Drugmakers will have until the end of that month to decide whether to participate in the program.
After that second round, CMS can negotiate prices for another 15 drugs that will go into effect in 2028. The number rises to 20 negotiated medications a year starting in 2029.
“Sometimes I think people get caught up in the fact that their drug isn’t on the list, but it will be on the list at some point in the future if they’re taking a drug that’s resulting in high costs,” Purvis said. _
Thanks for the thoughtful response, but the follow up question is obvious: why only 20 per year?
There are over 19,000 FDA approved drugs, and 50 more are added each year. It’s going to take a couple hundred years to catch up at this rate.
It takes effort to do the RFQs and organize that fairly. That’s one RFQ every couple of weeks. The solution would be to hire a bunch more procurement officers to process more RFQs.
They can at least target the drugs that make the biggest impact.