Medicare drug pricing negotiations may have a limited impact at first

AXIOS August 30, 2023
Caitlin Owens

Depending on who you ask, the first-ever Medicare drug negotiations announced yesterday will either mean huge pocketbook relief for seniors or the demise of America’s pharmaceutical industry — but the immediate impact will likely be relatively small, experts told Axios.

Why it matters: There are still questions about how the Biden administration will arrive at what it thinks is a fair price for the drugs and how much of the savings from lower prices will ultimately be passed on to seniors.

• Constraints within the new law, existing discounts on many of these Medicare drugs, and fear of backlash if cuts are seen as unreasonably deep could mean a tempered rollout of the new negotiation scheme.

The big picture:...

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