Washington, D.C. — Recent Trump administration rollbacks to the Inflation Reduction Act prescription drug price negotiations potentially limit future savings for seniors and others with Medicare.
A new Center for American Progress analysis explores how the Big Beautiful Bill undermines future prescription drug price negotiations through provisions that carve out more exemptions and delays for pharmaceutical companies.
“The Trump administration is working with the pharmaceutical industry to make prescription drugs more expensive,” said Neda Ashtari, associate director of Health Policy at CAP and author of the analysis. “There are concrete steps policymakers can take to strengthen Medicare negotiations and drive down health care costs for patients.”
To strengthen Medicare’s drug negotiation program, the analysis recommends:
- Expanding the number of drugs negotiated each year beyond the current caps.
- Allowing negotiation at launch for new blockbuster drugs to prevent years of monopoly-level pricing.
- Closing loopholes such as the expanded orphan-drug exemptions that shield high-revenue drugs from negotiation.
- Extending negotiated prices beyond Medicare to benefit all payers and patients.
- Ending the patent abuse practices that artificially inflate prices.
- Increasing transparency on research and development costs, taxpayer subsidies, and global revenues to ensure fair pricing.
Read the analysis: “Medicare Negotiation Is Working, But the Trump Administration’s Rollbacks Diminish Potential Savings” by Neda Ashtari.
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Christian Unkenholz at [email protected].