HOUSTON – The Biden administration announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement with pharmaceutical manufacturers to lower prices for the 10 most expensive prescription drugs under Medicare.

This is part of the federal government’s first negotiations on drug prices. The cost reduction is intended to help reduce the financial burden.

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Here are the negotiated prices for the drugs, based on a 30-day supply, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services:

• Eliquis, a blood thinner from Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer: $231 negotiated price, compared to $521 list price.
• Xarelto, a blood thinner from Johnson & Johnson; $197 negotiated price, versus $517 list price.
• Januvia, a diabetes drug from Merck: $113 negotiated price, compared to $527 list price.
• Jardiance, a diabetes drug from Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly: $197 negotiated price, compared to $573 list price.
• Enbrel, a rheumatoid arthritis drug from Amgen: $2,355 negotiated price, versus $7,106 list price.
• Imbruvica, a blood cancer drug from AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson: $9,319 negotiated price, versus $14,934 list price.
• Farxiga, a drug for diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease from AstraZeneca: $178 negotiated price, compared to $556 list price.
• Entresto, a heart failure drug from Novartis: $295 negotiated price, compared to $628 list price.
• Stelara, a drug for psoriasis and Crohn’s disease from J&J: $4,695 negotiated price, compared to $13,836 list price.
• Fiasp and NovoLog, diabetes medications from Novo Nordisk: $119 negotiated price, instead of $495 list price.

The newly negotiated prices were compared to the list prices of the drugs for 2023. Medicare provides health insurance coverage for more than 65 million people in the United States

Government officials said the renegotiated prices are expected to save Medicare beneficiaries $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs in the first year.

The Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Joe Biden is intended to reduce the cost of prescription drugs – including cancer drugs, blood thinners and insulin – for millions of Americans.

The $1.5 billion would be in addition to savings resulting from other provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act. Those provisions include a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin and an annual cap on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, officials said.

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FOX 26 spoke with Alejandra Rischan, a coordinator with the Houston-Galveston Area Council, who said this will have a significant impact.

“We’re really excited that this is bringing down the cost. We expect a 60-70% reduction when the prices actually go into effect. That’s really exciting to see. People have to make difficult decisions, especially with inflation, and they have to make those difficult decisions about whether they can afford medicine or food,” Rischan said.

The prices will not come into effect until 2026.