The federal government has expanded its drug price negotiation program for seniors in Michigan and beyond, adding more than a dozen high-cost medicines.
For the first time, the expansion includes drugs covered under Medicare Part B, typically prescribed in a doctor’s office or clinic. The program lets Medicare negotiate directly with drugmakers to lower the cost of some of the most expensive and widely-used medications. It builds on the first round of Medicare-negotiated drug prices that took effect Jan. 1.
"There are now some really significant price reductions for drugs people in the Medicare program tend to use a lot," said Leigh Purvis, prescription drug principal for the AARP Public Policy Institute. "I’m talking reductions that could be 56% or close to 40%. They're really big savings for people who are taking these drugs."
Drugs in the program now include treatments for asthma, cancer, lung disease and diabetes, as well as popular GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Rybelsus. Medicare spent more than $15 billion on those drugs in 2024.
In December of the same year, an AARP survey of more than 1,000 adults age 50 and older found nearly all respondents said the government should do more to lower prescription drug prices, and more than four in five said they take medications regularly.
Moving forward, Purvis said, the federal government is planning to do more.
"We already have seen the negotiated prices for those drugs that were selected for 2027 – and we've already seen the next batch of drugs that were selected for 2028," Purvis said. "So, this is actually a process that's going to be happening every single year going forward."
Purvis noted that each drug goes through a two-year negotiation process, calling it a major shift in how Medicare sets prices for some of its most expensive medications.
