The case for Medicare price negotiation: Cost of prescription drugs

The Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Richard Fiesta joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the need to pass legislation to empower Medicare to negotiate the price for prescription drugs in order to make them more affordable for Americans.

Fiesta pointed to two expensive medications in particular — Aduhel, a drug to treat Alzheimer’s, and insulin, the hormone used to control diabetes.

Adulum was first released at a cost of $56,000 for a year’s prescription, but the company lowered it to $28,000 after public outcry, Fiesta noted. This drug alone is why Medicare premiums have gone up, he said. More alarming is the concern whether the drug is effective at treating Alzheimers. Medicare will only cover the drug if the patient is enrolled in a clinical study regarding the drug’s effectiveness, he said.

Fiesta then spoke about the outrageous price of Insulin, a hormone that has been around for 60 to 70 years. Since 2001, the price of the medication has increased roughly 11 percent per year in the U.S. Fiesta explained the Affordable Insulin Now Act would limit the monthly cost of insulin to $35 for those who have insurance. The legislation recently passed the U.S. House with barely any Republican support, and now moves to the U.S. Senate.

Due to the high cost of prescription medication, Fiesta stressed the need to pass legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. This is something that would lower the cost of prescriptions for all Americans. It had been part of the Build Back Better budget reconciliation bill that stalled in the U.S. Senate. Fiesta hopes language for Medicare prescription negotiation is revived in future legislation and pushed through the U.S. House and U.S. Senate this summer.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.