The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the third round of drugs selected for negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. In a new insight, Director of Health Care Policy Michael Baker discusses the significance of CMS’ third round of drug price negotiations.

Key points:

• The third negotiation cycle covers 15 high-spend, single-source drugs across Medicare Parts B and D, and will have an initial pay applicability year (IPAY) of 2028.
• Part B represents 1.8 million beneficiaries and separately includes a renegotiation of a previously selected drug.
• While the IPAY 2028 process is just beginning, it is important to understand the selections that were made and the next steps in the negotiation process – and to remember that no data has yet been collected on the impact of the drug negotiation regime on Medicare expenditures or beneficiary costs and access.

Read the analysis.