The U.S. government is expected to announce negotiated prices this week for 15 of the highest-cost prescription drugs covered under Medicare, marking a significant signal of the Trump administration’s push to reduce healthcare expenses. Earlier this month, officials revealed a deal to cap monthly Medicare and Medicaid prices for Novo Nordisk’s popular GLP-1 drugs Wegovy and Ozempic at $245 starting next year — a notable drop from Medicare’s recent net price of $428 for Ozempic, though experts say prices are not likely to fall further under the latest negotiations.
Other medicines included in this negotiation round are GSK’s Trelegy Ellipta inhaler for asthma and COPD and AbbVie’s irritable bowel syndrome treatment Linzess, with new prices set to take effect in 2027. Analysts say they will be closely watching how the revised prices compare with Medicare’s existing net rates — which already reflect undisclosed rebates and discounts — as well as prices in other high-income nations. President Trump has repeatedly championed a “most-favored-nation” approach, linking U.S. prices to the lowest rates among wealthy countries.
Last year, Medicare released its first negotiated prices for 10 high-cost drugs under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, achieving an average 22% discount relative to Medicare’s net prices at the time. Drugmakers had opposed these negotiations, warning of potential cuts to research and development, and several companies filed lawsuits to block the process. The next round of talks, covering 15 additional prescription and hospital-administered medicines, is scheduled to begin in February.
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