The selections continue the very newly minted tradition of maximizing politics over substance. The poster child of the “need” for negotiation is a branded drug with no (branded) competition and an extremely high price per dose, treatment, or beneficiary. The first 10 drugs contained many that looked nothing like this – notably Xarelto and Eliquis, two blood thinners that are relatively cheap, compete vigorously with one another, and are simply used by a large number of seniors. The second round of choices continues the tradition:
- None of the 15 proposed drugs for negotiation crack the top 75 highest average spending per beneficiary (the highest is Pomalyst at 89th).
- None of the 15 proposed drugs are in the six highest total spending drugs of 2022 (Ozempic is 7th).
- More than 260 drugs are utilized by more beneficiaries than any of the proposed 15 drugs for negotiation.
Source: American Action Forum