Guest post: A major victory in the fight to lower drug prices in the US – Albert Lea Tribune

Guest column by Amy Klobuchar

For far too many Americans, high drug prices can force difficult decisions, such as whether to ration medications or pay for groceries. This was true even for seniors covered by Medicare.

Medicare is the largest prescription drug payer in the country. If our free market system worked the way it is supposed to, it would give Medicare serious bargaining power. But until two years ago, a provision in federal law written by big drug companies prevented Medicare from getting better prices for seniors and taxpayers.

That's why I've pushed legislation for years to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for our seniors. It became law two years ago and we are starting to see the results. Last month we announced the new, lower list prices for the first ten drugs negotiated by Medicare:

• Eliquis, which nearly four million seniors take to prevent and treat blood clots, will be 56 percent cheaper than its 2023 list price.

• Jardiance, which nearly two million seniors take to treat diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, will be 66 percent cheaper.

• Xarelto, which over 1.3 million seniors use to prevent and treat blood clots, will be 62 percent cheaper.

• Januvia, which more than 840,000 seniors use to treat diabetes, will be 79 percent cheaper.

• Farxiga, which nearly a million seniors use to treat diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, will be 68 percent cheaper.

• Entresto, which more than 660,000 seniors use to treat heart failure, will be 53 percent cheaper.

• Enbrel, which nearly 50,000 seniors use to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, will be 67 percent cheaper.

• Imbruvica, which nearly 20,000 seniors use to treat blood cancer, will be 38 percent cheaper.

• Stelara, which more than 20,000 seniors use to treat psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, will be 66 percent cheaper.

• Fiasp and NovoLog, which more than 780,000 seniors use to treat diabetes, will be 76 percent cheaper.

This progress couldn't come a moment too soon—nearly 120,000 seniors in Minnesota took these medications the year we enacted Medicare price negotiation.

For these seniors and millions more, the first ten discounted prices are a game-changer that will save them an estimated $1.5 billion in 2026 alone. But it's not just seniors who benefit from this. Lower negotiated Medicare prices give employers and commercial health plans the ability to negotiate lower drug prices for their enrollees. This means that Medicare's negotiation of drug prices also benefits patients with private insurance coverage.

The discounted prices for these ten drugs are just the beginning – the list of drugs with lower prices will continue to grow every year. And there's still so much work to do, which is why I'm fighting to pass my new law to lower prices even further and double the number of drugs eligible for price negotiations each year.

I am also committed to ensuring that Big Pharma does not undo the progress we have made. Big pharmaceutical companies spend millions protecting their profits in court. We will not let Big Pharma win. That's why I'm leading legal briefs to fight these baseless lawsuits. And I won't give up until American seniors no longer have to choose between filling their prescriptions and filling their shopping carts.

I know we will prevail because I remember the obstacles we overcame to end Big Pharma's sweet deal in the first place. These big drug companies had three lobbyists for every member of Congress and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to stop us.

Big Pharma had the money, but what they lacked was the power of over 50 million seniors to put their feet down and say, “Enough is enough.”

We fought hard together. Together we achieved this victory. And together, we will end the era of Big Pharma pressuring our bosses for profit.

Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, is a U.S. Senator.