Los Angeles, Feb 1 (EFE).- The Administration of President Joe Biden has begun negotiations this Thursday with pharmaceutical companies to reduce the costs of ten prescription drugs, as part of its plan to limit prices for beneficiaries of the public health program Medicare.
The first negotiation of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) focuses on the cost of 10 medications that currently represent a payment of 50.5 billion dollars to Medicare and 3.4 billion out of the pockets of beneficiaries.
“For the first time in history, Medicare is bidding on fair pricing for ten of the most expensive and widely used drugs. “Medicare no longer accepts the prices pharmaceutical companies demand for these drugs,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
The possible negotiation occurs under the Inflation Reduction Act, which the White House promoted in 2022 and which allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate prescription drug prices directly with companies. pharmaceuticals, similar to what the Department of Veterans Affairs and other federal agencies do to reduce costs.
Negotiations must be completed before August 1 and the new prices will come into force in 2025.
In a call with reporters, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said that when prescription drugs cost two or three times more than they should, people are “forced to make unconscionable decisions.”
In 2022, prices for all drugs (brand name and generic) in the US were almost three times higher than prices in 33 countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
For every dollar paid in other countries for medications, consumers in the United States pay $2.78.
“The gap is widening over time as drug prices in the United States grow faster than drug prices in other countries and the drug mix changes,” HHS noted in a statement.
2024-02-02 07:25:40
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