No matter which party wins control of Congress, the high cost of drugs remains a hot issue that still needs to be dealt with. In our last update, we gave the list of the ten drugs that the Biden administration negotiated with the big drug companies for lower prices beginning in January 2026.
Medicare's ability to negotiate these prices came about because of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden in 2022. Republicans have opposed that legislation, and according to the news site Axios, multiple high-ranking Republican members of Congress have said they want to repeal the Medicare drug price negotiations if they win control of Congress.
However, there is a lack of agreement among Republicans about what to do, and that could result in a long, grinding healthcare debate with echoes of the failed 2017 Affordable Care Act repeal-replace fight.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found that repealing the negotiation provisions would cost the government money instead of producing the savings currently expected to be about $100 billion over 10 years.
Should Democrats gain control, on the other hand, they will likely push to expand the number of drugs to be negotiated for lower prices.
If Congress is split between the two parties, as it has been for the past two years, neither party will probably give in to the other, and few, if any, changes will be made.
Of course, whoever is elected President will make a difference because of the ability to veto any legislation.
Things should be clearer by our next update, and we can determine which direction Congress is likely to take.
TSCL has long supported legislation to reduce the prices of prescription drugs, so this is an issue we will keep a close watch on and continue to fight for lower drug prices.
