Dear Fellow Marylanders,
Buying in bulk to save money or negotiating for a better price is second nature to many Americans. Anyone who has ever shopped at Costco or BJs, bought a car, ordered uniforms for their kid’s sports team, or even browsed through a flea market knows the value of bulk buying and reasonable price negotiations. So it was counter-intuitive about 20 years ago when Medicare was legally blocked by Congress from negotiating with drug companies for lower prices for its more than 50 million people with Medicare Part D drug benefit.
At the time, Republicans and big drug companies created a law to prohibit Medicare from using its massive negotiating power to secure lower prescription drug prices for seniors and taxpayers. Every single Republican voted to stop Medicare from negotiating prices. And, you guessed it, Big Pharma is currently filing a litany of lawsuits that, if successful, would result in massive increases in spending for seniors and federal taxpayers. The good news: Big pharma has lost every case so far.
Even better news, two years ago, the Biden-Harris administration worked with Democrats in Congress to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass this historic legislation. I usually like to reserve “IRA” for savings in the retirement world, but this IRA has already lowered health care and prescription drug costs for tens of millions of Americans.
To start, 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries in Maryland and across the country, who use insulin, are saving today, on average, $501 annually thanks to IRA’s $35 per month insulin cap. The law made recommended vaccines free for seniors and – starting in 2025 – will save Marylanders $387 in premiums, on average, thanks to a $2,000 annual cost cap.
The Inflation Reduction Act also gave Medicare, which represents more than 65 million people, the power to negotiate lower prices with drug companies, ensuring seniors can afford the care they need.
This last part is huge. Prior to passage of the IRA, drug companies were routinely charging Americans three times more than patients in other countries for the same medication, even though they are made in the United States.
Fast forward to this week. I was honored to join fellow Marylanders and President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris at Prince George’s Community College to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the IRA and hear the latest health-care-related cost-saving: detailed results for the first 10 drugs negotiated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is headquartered in Baltimore.
As expected, negotiations were fruitful. According to CMS and the White House, the new prices “cut the cost of some of the most expensive and most commonly used drugs by nearly 40 to 80%. These prescription drugs are used to treat everything from blood clots to diabetes, heart disease, cancers, and more.”
These are 10 of the drugs that seniors spend the most money on – about 10 million seniors each year use them at an annual cost of about $50 billion. Big Pharma has used armies of lawyers and patent games to block cheaper generic competition just so they could make a bigger profit.
Together, we stood up to big drug companies because, as Vice President Harris made clear on Thursday, “in the United States of America, no senior should have to choose between either filling their prescription or paying their rent.” She added: “Medicare represents more than 65 million people. And so, Medicare has collective bargaining power. And now Medicare can use that power to go toe-to-toe with Big Pharma and negotiate lower drug prices.”
Lower prices will go into effect in 2026, saving the federal taxpayers money, through Medicare, and saving patients money with lower out-of-pocket expenses. Take a look at the list below. If you are on Medicare – or will be eligible in 2026 – you are going to save money if your medical professional has prescribed one of these medications.
| Drug Name | Commonly Treated Conditions | Number of Medicare Enrollees Who Used the Drug in 2023 | Drug List Price in 2023 for 30-day Supply | Negotiated Price for 2026 for 30-day Supply | Savings (%) |
| Eliquis | Prevention and treatment of blood clots | 3,928,000 | $521 | $231 | $290 (-56%) |
| Jardiance | Diabetes; Heart failure; Chronic kidney disease | 1,883,000 | $573 | $197 | $376 (-66%) |
| Xarelto | Prevention and treatment of blood clots; Reduction of risk for patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease | 1,324,000 | $517 | $197 | $320 (-62%) |
| Januvia | Diabetes | 843,000 | $527 | $113 | $414 (-79%) |
| Farxiga | Diabetes; Heart failure; Chronic kidney disease | 994,000 | $556 | $178.50 | $377.50 (-68%) |
| Entresto | Heart failure | 664,000 | $628 | $295 | $333 (-53%) |
| Enbrel | Rheumatoid arthritis; Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis | 48,000 | $7,106 | $2,355 | $4,751 (-67%) |
| Imbruvica | Blood cancers | 17,000 | $14,934 | $9,319 | $5,615 (-38%) |
| Stelara | Psoriasis; Psoriatic arthritis; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis | 23,000 | $13,836 | $4,695 | $9,141 (-66%) |
| Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill | Diabetes | 785,000 | $495 | $119 | $376 (-76%) |
This is only the beginning. Every single year moving forward, more and more drugs will be negotiated and more prices will come down from the stratosphere.
As President Biden said on Thursday, “I have no problem with companies making money, but not by price gouging seniors and working families … It’s all about health care. It’s about lowering costs for families. It’s about fairness and security. It’s about the dignity for … millions of Americans all across the country.”
For every Medicare beneficiary on one of these first 10 prescription drugs, I join you in taking a sigh of relief that this day has finally come. It is long overdue. We made it happen thanks to the landmark Inflation Reduction Act.
Thank you for your time. Please feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts on this topic or any other. If you are one of the millions who take one of these prescription drugs, and you would like to share your story, perhaps including how much you have been paying out of pocket, I would greatly appreciate it.
In solidarity,
Ben Cardin
