Kilili: 350 residents who rely on Medicare qualify for reduced drug costs | Local news

About 350 Northern Mariana Islands residents who rely on Medicare for their health care will be eligible for reduced costs for ten medications, mainly for diabetes, starting January 1, 2026, Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) said over the weekend.

Sablan said in his newsletter e-kilili that the Biden-Harris administration announced last week the successful conclusion of negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to reduce the cost of Januvia, Jardiance and other expensive prescription drugs.

The list price of Januvia, a diabetes drug, is $527, but the negotiated price is only $113.

Jardiance, a drug for diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, has a list price of $573, but the negotiated price is only $197.

The other most expensive drugs are Imbruvica for blood cancer with a list price of $14,934 and Stelara for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis with a list price of $13,836.

The negotiated price for Imbruvica is $9,319, while for Stelara it is $4,695.

The Biden-Harris administration announced that it had agreed to new, lower prices for all 10 drugs selected for negotiations, which it said would help lower prescription drug prices for millions of people in the United States.

According to the government, negotiated drugs are among the most expensive and commonly prescribed drugs in the Medicare program and are used to treat conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Sablan said Medicare Part D patients previously had to pay the list price for it, but the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), which President Joseph Biden signed in 2022, finally gave the federal government the authority to negotiate prices, just like any other large purchaser.

He said that in 2026, prices would be reduced for 10 drugs, that another 15 drugs could be added to the list in 2027, and that costs could be negotiated and reduced for 20 drugs per year thereafter.

The delegate said the inflation-reduction law also capped Medicare patients' out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year, regardless of how expensive the drugs patients needed to maintain their health.

The six other drugs being negotiated are Eliquis for blood clots, Xarelto for blood clots and coronary heart disease, Farxiga for diabetes, heart failure and kidney disease, Entresto for heart failure, Enbrel for arthritis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and Fiasp for diabetes.

Eliquis has a list price of $521 but the negotiated price is $231. Xarelto has a list price of $517 and $197 is the negotiated price. Farxiga has a list price of $556 and $178.50 is the negotiated price. Entresto has a list price of $628 and $295 is the negotiated price. Enbrel has a list price of $7,106 and $2,355 is the negotiated price. And Fiasp has a list price of $495 and $119 is the negotiated price.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the announcement that Americans were paying too much for their prescription drugs and that Medicare had negotiated directly with pharmaceutical companies for the first time ever, which would be beneficial to the American people.

Becerra said the Congressional Budget Office projected the drug negotiations would result in savings of $100 billion over 10 years, including $3.7 billion in the first year alone.

“Today we are announcing that we will save Medicare an estimated $6 billion in the first year of our negotiations and that Americans who pay out-of-pocket will save an additional $1.5 billion in the future,” the secretary said.