The new prices will go into effect for people with Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage beginning January 1, 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Negotiated prices were reached for Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, Januvia, Farxiga, Entresto, Engrel, Imbruvica, Stelara; and the insulin products Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen, and NovoLog PenFill.
The HHS said in a press release that if the new prices had been in effect last year, Medicare would have saved an estimated $6 billion, or approximately 22%, in prescription costs for the 10 selected drugs.
The negotiated prices range from 38% to 79% discounts off of list prices. The Biden Administration estimates that beneficiaries with Medicare prescription drug coverage will see aggregated savings of $1.5 billion in their out-of-pocket costs in 2026. More detailed information about the negotiated prices is available in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Negotiated Prices Fact Sheet.
“Americans pay too much for their prescription drugs. That makes today’s announcement historic. For the first time ever, Medicare negotiated directly with drug companies and the American people are better off for it,” said HHS secretary Xavier Becerra. “Congressional budget estimators (Congressional Budget Office) predicted about $100 billion savings over 10 years from drug negotiations, and a $3.7 billion savings in the first year alone. Today we’re announcing that in our first year of negotiations we are saving Medicare an estimated $6 billion and Americans who pay out of pocket will be saving another $1.5 billion moving forward. Empowering Medicare to negotiate prices not only strengthens the program for generations to come, but also puts a check on skyrocketing drug prices.”
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said that her agency “is proud to have negotiated drug prices for people with Medicare for the first time. These negotiations will not only lower the prices of critically important medications for cancer, diabetes, heart failure, and more, but will also save billions of dollars.”
As to what the discounts might mean to beneficiaries, the HHS offers the following example: A senior with Medicare who takes Stelara pays a 25% coinsurance on the drug, which can cost as much as $3,400 today for a 30-day supply. When the negotiated price goes into effect in 2026, that same 25% coinsurance would cost the beneficiary about $1,100 before the person reaches the catastrophic cap, after which the beneficiary will pay no more out of pocket on their prescription drugs. A beneficiary’s actual costs will depend on their plan’s benefit design.
The first 10 drugs for price negotiation were announced a year ago. Together, they made up $56.2 billion in total Medicare spending, or about 20% of total Part D gross spending in 2023. The HHS pointed out that total Part D gross spending for the 10 selected drugs more than doubled from 2018 to 2022, from about $20 billion to about $46 billion, an increase of 134%. Medicare enrollees paid a total of $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2022 for those drugs, the agencies added.
“CMS negotiated in good faith on behalf of the millions of people who rely on these 10 drugs for their health and well-being. The new negotiated prices will bring much needed financial relief, affordability, and access,” explained Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, CMS deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare. “Throughout the process, we remained true to our commitment to be thoughtful and transparent, meeting publicly with patients, providers, health plans, pharmacies, drug companies and others to help inform the process. We will continue to do so for future cycles. Our team is actively working on the next cycle of negotiations where we will combine what we have learned from this first cycle and apply it in negotiating prices for the next round of up to 15 selected drugs.”
CMS will select up to 15 more drugs covered under Part D for negotiation for 2027 by February 1, 2025. In addition, CMS will select up to 15 more drugs covered by Part B or Part D for 2028, and up to 20 more Part B or Part D drugs for each year after that, as required by the Inflation Reduction Act.
HHS advised that next year, all Medicare Part D enrollees will benefit from a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on their prescription drug costs, which also will make prescription drugs more affordable.
According to HHS, the new negotiated prices for 2026 include the following medications:
• Januvia from Merck Sharp Dohme, used for diabetes, was negotiated to $113.00 for a 30-day supply compared with a $527.00 list price
• Fiasp, Fiasp FlexTouch, Fiasp PenFill, NovoLog, NovoLog FlexPen, and NovoLog PenFill from Novo Nordisk Inc. (also used for diabetes) has a negotiated price of $119.00 for a 30-day supply, compared with a $495.00 list price
• Farxiga from AstraZeneca AB, used for diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, has a negotiated price of $178 compared with a list price of $556 for a 30-day supply
• Enbrel from Immunex Corporation, used for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis, was negotiated to $2,355.00 for a treatment compared with a $7,106.00 list price
• Jardiance from Boehringer Ingelheim, prescribed for diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease, was negotiated to $197.00 for a 30-day supply compared with a $573.00 list price
• Stelara from Janssen Biotech, Inc., which is prescribed for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, was negotiated to $4,695.00 for a treatment compared with a $13,836.00 list price
• Xarelto from Janssen, which is used for the prevention and treatment of blood clots, as well as the reduction of risk for patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease, has a $197.00 negotiated price compared with a $517.00 list price
• Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb, which is prescribed for the prevention and treatment of blood clots, was negotiated to $231.00 from a $521.00 list price
• Entresto from Novartis, which is used for heart failure treatment, has a negotiated price of $295.00 compared with a $628.00 list price
• Imbruvica from Pharmacyclics LLC, which is used to treat blood cancer, was negotiated from $14,934.00 to $9,319.00 per treatment.
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