Indivisibles,

Powering Progress is back with an in-depth look at last week’s big news: thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, for the first time ever, Medicare will be able to negotiate prescription drug prices. This will save patients and taxpayers billions on certain prescriptions and ensure millions more people can access affordable medicines they need. We want to break down why this is a big deal, what it means for you, and how you can help us spread the word about this historic change and pushback on lies from Big Pharma. 

What is Medicare Price Negotiation? 

The Inflation Reduction Act is delivering on some long overdue reforms to drug pricing for our seniors and people with disabilities, by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower costs for prescription drugs to make them more accessible and affordable.   

Why is this a big deal? 

For decades, big pharmaceutical companies have been able to charge Americans outrageous prices for prescription drugs, often marking up the costs more than four times what they charge in other countries. These companies have been raking in massive profits, even as millions of Americans are forced to go without the medications that are essential to their health and well-being.

But that’s about to change.

By allowing Medicare to negotiate lower costs, the Inflation Reduction Act is taking on Big Pharma and fighting for fair drug prices. 

What are the details? 

Essentially, the Inflation Reduction Act undoes a 20-year ban on Medicare using its significant purchasing power as leverage to secure lower drug prices. Now, Medicare can negotiate with drug companies to determine a maximum fair price (MFP) for each medication, so that they cannot be sold to Medicare beneficiaries for more than the set MFP. 

And Medicare has just announced the first ten drugs that will have lower negotiated prices, some of which you may already be familiar with They are: 

• Eliquis, to treat blood clots
• Enbrel, to treat arthritis 
• Entresto, for heart failure
• Farxiga, for Type 2 diabetes
• Fiasp, for diabetes
• Imbruvica, to treat lymphoma 
• Januvia, for Type 2 diabetes
• Jardiance, for Type 2 diabetes
• Stelara, to treat psoriasis 
• Xeralto, to treat blood clots

These are some of the most expensive drugs, so negotiating lower prices will offer real relief to the people that depend on them. 

But these drug companies want to keep charging unreasonably inflated prices for these vital medications. Instead of preparing to negotiate with Medicare officials, they’re filing baseless lawsuits to overturn these laws and continue putting profits over patients.

It’s time that these big drug companies stop suing and start negotiating, so people can actually afford the medicines they need. 

What can you do to help?

We’ve got two ways for you to take action: 

1. We want to hear from you! Are you or someone close to you going to benefit from these lower prescription drug costs? Tell us more about it in this short survey, so we can help amplify stories of real-life impact. Sharing personal stories helps make these wonky pricing changes more meaningful, and helps protect these popular benefits. 
2. Join us tomorrow, on Wednesday, September 13th at 6:30 pm for a Truth Brigade call that’s all about the falsehoods that Big Pharma spreads, and what we can do to combat it! Special Guest Steve Knieval from Public Citizen will help us understand the misleading health information that undermines folks' wellbeing -- and together we’ll take action to counter the lies. Register here for tomorrow’s Big Pharma; Big Lies call. 

This Medicare prescription negotiation is only a small part of some of the huge benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that’s to come. Today, we’re celebrating the announcement of the first 10 drugs to have prices negotiated by Medicare. Tomorrow, we’ll keep fighting so that everyone, regardless of insurance, can get affordable prices negotiated in Medicare. 

By taking our survey, we can gain insight into the real life people that win because of this negotiation deal, because when you win, we all win. 

In solidarity,

Indivisible Team