Big Pharma to push back against Drug Price Negotiation Program

AARP and the AARP Foundation filed an amicus brief today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, urging the court to dismiss the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s attempt to block Medicare’s historic new authority to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.

“Big drug companies and their allies are fighting furiously to stop Medicare from negotiating drug prices so they can keep charging Americans the highest prices in the world. Allowing these distractions to derail implementation of the law would not be in the public’s interest, especially for older adults who have waited far too long for affordable drug prices. Medicare drug price negotiation represents a historic opportunity to access lifesaving drugs for millions of Americans at a time when they need them the most,” said William Alvarado Rivera, Senior Vice President for Litigation at AARP Foundation.

According to the brief:

“Stopping the

before it even begins is not in the public interest. On the contrary, it will only reinforce the substantial harm that the IRA is meant to prevent. It would protect the pharmaceutical industry’s unreasonable and astronomical profits at the expense of what people with chronic conditions need to survive.”

“What is in the public interest is for the negotiations to proceed as scheduled so that millions of older people have no delay in affording their life-saving medication. It is also in the public interest for negotiations to proceed to stop Medicare and taxpayers from losing billions of dollars from unjustified prescription drug prices. The health and economic needs of the American people should not be pushed aside in favor of more unfettered price increases. The plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction should be denied.”

A recent AARP report found that list prices for the 25 brand-name drugs with the highest total Medicare Part D spending in 2021 have increased by an average of 226%—or more than tripled—since they first entered the market, far exceeding the rate of inflation. More than two-thirds (67%) of likely voters age 50 and older rate the cost of prescription drugs as a very important issue ahead of the 2024 elections, AARP polling shows.

Read the full amicus brief.