According to six industry sources, several of the largest Drugmakers in the world are creating the legal basis to oppose the American proposal to bargain prescription pricing for its Medicare health coverage, including the claim that a ban on speaking about these conversations violates constitutional rights.
Part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the major drug pricing reform of the Biden administration is to save Americans—who currently pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs—$25 billion by 2031 through price negotiations.
The law was passed last year, and the pharmaceutical industry claims it would cause a loss in income that will force them to scale back on creating ground-breaking new therapies.
The Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will announce its top 10 most expensive medications in September, kicking off the first-ever Medicare drug price reduction process. Following talks on that initial wave of medications, increased pricing will take effect in 2026, when the agency may reduce industry sales by $4.8 billion.
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Drugmakers which will likely make the move on the regulation:
Ten popular medications that are the subject of discussions are most likely to include the blood thinner Eliquis from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY.N) and Pfizer (PFE.N), the breast cancer therapy Ibrance from Pfizer, and the leukemia drug Imbruvica from AbbVie (ABBV.N).
In March, the government unveiled its negotiation schedule. Companies will probably file lawsuits against Medicare, claiming that the organization is not abiding by either Biden’s legislation or the U.S. Constitution, according to three industry lobbyists and attorneys. If Medicare doesn’t revise its ideas before it finalizes them in July, they added.
When the final instructions and regulations for implementing the law are completed in July, the Medicare programme said it plans to publish the letters and it may then make any necessary modifications to any existing policy.
According to a lawyer who represents several manufacturers, drug corporations may seek urgent injunctions to postpone government negotiations. However, lawsuits would be more than just a stalling strategy.
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