The Effect of Delaying the Selection of Small Molecule Drugs for Medicare Drug Price Negotiation

(By Juliette Cubanski and Tricia Neuman for The Kaiser Family Foundation Published: Apr 16, 2025)

President Trump has just signed an executive order outlining several proposals related to prescription drug prices, including efforts to “improve upon” the Inflation Reduction Act, a law signed by President Biden in 2022 with several provisions to lower prescription drug costs for people with Medicare and reduce drug spending by the federal government. In the new executive order, the Secretary of HHS is directed to work with Congress to implement a change in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program to delay negotiation of so-called “small molecule” drugs beyond 7 years after FDA approval under current law. This change would mean that small molecule drugs would be on the market longer before they are eligible to be selected for Medicare drug price negotiation, which could lead to higher Medicare prescription drug spending, higher prices, and potentially higher Medicare Part D premiums. Continue reading here…

Notice: The link provided above connects readers to the full content of the posted article. The URL (internet address) for this link is valid on the posted date; medicarereport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the link’s validity. Also, the opinions expressed in these postings are the viewpoints of the original source and are not explicitly endorsed by AMAC, Inc.; the AMAC Foundation, Inc.; or medicarereport.org.