Biden and Harris will appear together. Expect news that will tell us a lot about one of the administration’s most important policy achievements.

The Department of Health and Human Services is about to publish the final prices for 10 prescription drugs that Medicare covers, following negotiations between the federal government and the pharmaceutical manufacturers. The drugs include expensive, widely used blood thinners and diabetes treatments, as well as a cancer therapy medication.

Such negotiations are routine in most other economically advanced countries ― it’s the way their governments set drug prices — but they have never before taken place in the U.S. That’s changing this year thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed on a party-line vote and President Joe Biden signed into law last year.

  • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
    28·
    3 months ago

    Also, the new prices won’t actually take effect until Jan. 1, 2026.

    …

    Even figuring out the magnitude of the likely savings could be difficult, or at least take some time. The newly negotiated prices for these 10 drugs are going to be much lower than the official list prices, but Medicare insurers already get discounts on those prices for their customers. And those discounts are proprietary information.

    Yeah I think such a distant change will be hard to spin into meaningful voter opinion. Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels a little too small and abstract to have a big impact.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
    12·
    3 months ago

    “One reason for the low public awareness may be that the negotiating power is quite limited. The new prices apply only to Medicare and not private insurance for non-elderly, non-disabled Americans. And the negotiations cover only a limited set of drugs, starting with the 10 medications this year.”

    This is the student loan forgiveness debacle all over again. Claiming credit for a “sweeping change” that few people will ever see. If they see it at all.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
      13·
      3 months ago

      A public option would give the government the leverage to make this happen for a lot more people. Single payer would give the government the leverage to make this happen for everyone.

      I wonder why we don’t have either of those.

    • Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de
      9·
      3 months ago

      I’ll bet money though that private insurance companies will see that as a new starting price point.

      Edit: also targeting the voting block that votes reliably. (Historically at least)

      • Zaktor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        6·
        3 months ago

        I think private insurance usually pays more than Medicare (because Medicare is massive, used by people frequently needing health services, and the government can use that leverage to set prices), but whatever negotiated price information they release will be a new anchor for private insurance costs. The private insurances probably aren’t going to pay $700 when the government pays $55.

        There’s also a political incentive for the insurance companies to not look significantly worse than Medicare lest they boost support for Medicare-for-All or a public option.

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      3 months ago

      And GOP voters won’t notice or credit it in any case.

      Our babysitter was bemoaning her lack of healthcare when my wife turned her onto the ACA. “This is great and it ain’t that Obamacare bullshit!” Yeah.

      Democrats fail, hard, at messaging. Harris’ team seems to be stepping up though!