Washington– the supreme court On Monday, appeals from pharmaceutical companies objecting to this were rejected Negotiating Medicare drug prices With the federal government.
The justices did not comment on leaving aside rulings from a federal appeals court in Philadelphia that rejected drug manufacturers’ claims.
The bargaining program was created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which culminated years of debate over whether the federal government should be allowed to bargain directly with drug companies over drug prices in the Medicare program.
The law requires the government to negotiate prices for certain high-cost drugs in the federal insurance program for the elderly on an annual basis, with the first deals taking effect in 2026.
No Republican voted in favor of the legislation signed by Democratic President Joe Biden. Republicans have strongly criticized aspects of the law, and Republican President Donald Trump has eliminated programs that favor alternative energy sources.
But the administration has embraced the authority to bring drug makers to the negotiating table.
So far, the government has negotiated prices for 25 drugs covered by Medicare, including popular weight-loss and GLP-1 diabetes drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy. In January, the Trump administration announced targeted drugs for the program’s third round, which would bring the total number of low-priced drugs for Medicare enrollees to 40.
Pharmaceutical companies have pushed back aggressively on the program, arguing that policymakers wanting to reduce costs should instead rein in insurers and third-party pharmacy benefit managers.
But absent court intervention, stopping the program may require an act by Congress. The law establishing the program does not specify an end date.
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Swenson reported from New York.