The Biden admin unveiled the first 10 drugs that will be subject to Medicare price negotiations -- a milestone for Democrats in their push to lower health care costs.
Eliquis - blood thinner that lowers the risk of stroke, clot, or bleeding
Jardiance - control blood sugar for type 2 diabetes
Xarelto - prevent blood clots
Januvia - control blood sugar
Farxiga - control blood sugar
Entresto - blood pressure
Enbrel - lowers immune response for autoimmune disorders
Imbruvica - treat blood cancer
Stelara - immunosuppressant that treats autoimmune conditions
Fiasp/NovoLog - increases speed of absorption of insulin
*Obligatory:
Frame Canada: Wendell Potter spent decades scaring Americans. About Canada. He worked for the health insurance industry, and he knew that if Americans understood Canadian-style health care, they might.... like it. So he helped deploy an industry playbook for protecting the health insurance agency. https://www.npr.org/2020/10/19/925354134/frame-canada
I think that makes sense given (a) the number of medicare patients needing blood thinner meds and (b) the relative cost of blood thinner meds given their utilization levels. Since insulin is already covered by another part of the law, heart disease meds make sense for medicare patients I think.
"Giving a single government agency the power to arbitrarily set the price of medicines with little accountability, oversight or input from patients and their doctors will have significant negative consequences long after this administration is gone," Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) President Stephen J. Ubl said in a statement.
Oh.. I can see it now. Patients and their doctors begging for more expensive drugs.. The government saying, "Yeah! These fucking people aren't paying enough! Let's negotiate with the drug companies for HIGHER prices! That will get us reelected!"
Get fucked, Stephen J. Ubl, president of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
PhRMA, AKA the industry lobby that runs those ads in the NYT showing smiling patients and talking about how wonderful the world's pharmaceutical companies are, while fighting tooth-and-nail against Medicare price negotiations that would benefit seniors and the most vulnerable populations. This is one of those associations where if they're for something, you should be against it, and vice versa.
I find it fascinating that medical companies are allowed to pick and choose what they charge customers based on which insurance they have. Imagine shopping at a grocery store and being told that banana will cost you $1.20 but your neighbor can have it for 30 cents.