The list prices of Stelara (ustekinumab) and Enbrel (etanercept) for people on Medicare will be reduced by nearly 70% in 2026, the White House announced.
This action is a result of the first round of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) price negotiations with drugmakers. It comprises the 10 costliest prescription drugs under Medicare. The Inflation Reduction Act included a provision that allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for high-priced, single-source medications that do not have generic or biosimilar competition.
Here are the negotiated prices for the drugs, based on a 30-day supply:
- Enbrel from Amgen: $2,355 negotiated price, down from $7,106 2023 list price
- Stelara from Johnson & Johnson: $4,695 negotiated price, down from $13,836 2023 list price
- Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer: $231 negotiated price, down from $521 2023 list price
- Xarelto from J & J; $197 negotiated price, down from $517 2023 list price
- Januvia from Merck: $113 negotiated price, down from $527 2023 list price
- Jardiance from Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly: $197 negotiated price, down from $573 2023 list price
- Imbruvica from AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson: $9,319 negotiated price, down from $14,934 2023 list price
- Farxiga from AstraZeneca: $178 negotiated price, down from $556 2023 list price
- Entresto from Novartis: $295 negotiated price, down from 2023 $628 list price
- Fiasp and NovoLo from Novo Nordisk: $119 negotiated price, down from $495 2023 list price
“When these lower prices go into effect, people on Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for their prescription drugs and Medicare will save $6 billion in the first year alone,” says President Biden in a news release. “It’s a relief for the millions of seniors that take these drugs to treat everything from heart failure, blood clots, diabetes, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and more – and it’s a relief for American taxpayers.”
