Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced new maximum fair prices (MFPs) negotiated with drug companies, as the administration was required to do by the Inflation Reduction Act – a law Donald Trump and every Republican in Congress opposed. Thanks to Democrats, seniors will save on 15 popular high-cost prescription drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Trelegy Ellipta, Ibrance, and Xtandi.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress continue to give drug companies massive tax breaks and special favors. The GOP tax scam Trump signed into law in July gave drug companies and their CEOs massive tax breaks and one of their biggest victories in years: an $8.8 billion dollar giveaway that hikes drug prices at the expense of seniors. In granting this multibillion-dollar giveaway, Republicans exempted some of the most profitable drugs on the market from negotiation, robbing countless seniors fighting cancer and other diseases of relief. While Democrats are fighting to expand drug price negotiations and bring more savings for more drugs to everyone, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are making backroom deals to undercut it.
“What Trump’s CMS announced today is what they are required by law to do – a law that Trump and every Republican in Congress opposed,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress want to distract from their abysmal record because they have done nothing but hike seniors’ drug costs, increase their premiums, and pad the wallets of their rich drug company donors. Now that Democrat-led policies are saving seniors with a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap in 2026 and taxpayers billions of dollars on prescription drugs with negotiation, Donald Trump wants to jump in and take all the credit.”
Background
- By passing the Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats fought Big Pharma and won – finally giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors. Not a single Republican voted for the Inflation Reduction Act.
Thanks to Democrats fighting Big Pharma, seniors on Medicare are saving:
- Hundreds on insulin, thanks to the $35 cap
- An average of $400 per year, thanks to the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap
- $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs next year, thanks to newly negotiated drug prices
- On shingles and other recommended vaccines, which are free of cost to 54 million seniors
- Instead, Republicans secured Big Pharma the biggest victory they’ve had in years by passing an $8.8 billion bailout designed to carve out top-selling products such as Keytruda and Opdivo from drug price negotiation, ensuring drug companies’ exorbitant profits remain untouched while seniors continue to be forced to choose between putting food on the table and affording the health care they need to survive.
- 92 percent of the American public believes Trump and Congress should expand the number of prescription drugs in the Medicare Drug Negotiation Program – not limit it.
- Democrats are fighting to lower drug costs for everyone by expanding the Medicare Drug Negotiation program and bringing these savings to everyone, regardless of where they get their health insurance.
