Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that all of the manufacturers of the first 10 drugs selected for the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program have committed to participate in the program. The negotiations will occur this year and in 2024, and the negotiated price will be effective in 2026. Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure issued a statement that CMS is “look[ing] forward to engaging with the … manufacturers . . . that have decided to participate in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program,” and that “[CMS’s] goal is to ensure access to innovative treatments and therapies for people that need them when they need them. Medicare will negotiate in good faith consistent with the requirements of the law on behalf of people with Medicare.”

Key upcoming dates include meetings with each manufacturer about its required data submissions and a series of patient-focused listening sessions this fall.  By February 1, 2024, CMS will make an initial offer of a maximum fair price for each selected drug. The negotiation period ends August 1, 2024, and CMS will publish the maximum fair prices for 2026 on September 1, 2024.

Pre-registration is required for those who wish to share their knowledge and experiences to speak during the upcoming patient-focused listening sessions; the portal is open through October 15. Registration is not required to attend; the sessions will be livestreamed here. The sessions, which will include patients, beneficiaries, caregivers, consumer and patient organizations, and other interested parties, will be held between October 30, 2023 and November 15, 2023.

Additional information on the public Listening Sessions can be found here. 

Additional information about the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program can be found here.