The list prices of Stelara (ustekinumab) and Enbrel (etanercept) for people on Medicare will be reduced by nearly 70% in 2026, the White House announced.
This action is a result of the first round of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) price negotiations with drugmakers. It comprises the 10 costliest prescription drugs under Medicare.
“This is a step forward for all patients who have Medicare,” says Jayme Heim, MSN, FNP-BC, Family Nurse Practitioner at West Michigan Dermatology in Grandville, MI. “For Enbrel and Stelera we will still need to know what the patient responsibility is. Access is everything.”
Here are the negotiated prices for the drugs, based on a 30-day supply:
- Enbrel from Amgen: $2,355 negotiated price, down from $7,106 2023 list price
- Stelara from Johnson & Johnson: $4,695 negotiated price, down from $13,836 2023 list price
- Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer: $231 negotiated price, down from $521 2023 list price
- Xarelto from J & J; $197 negotiated price, down from $517 2023 list price
- Januvia from Merck: $113 negotiated price, down from $527 2023 list price
- Jardiance from Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly: $197 negotiated price, down from $573 2023 list price
- Imbruvica from AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson: $9,319 negotiated price, down from $14,934 2023 list price
- Farxiga from AstraZeneca: $178 negotiated price, down from $556 2023 list price
- Entresto from Novartis: $295 negotiated price, down from 2023 $628 list price
- Fiasp and NovoLo from Novo Nordisk: $119 negotiated price, down from $495 2023 list price
The Inflation Reduction Act included a provision that allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for high-priced, single-source medications that do not have generic or biosimilar competition.
“When these lower prices go into effect, people on Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for their prescription drugs and Medicare will save $6 billion in the first year alone,” said President Biden in a news release. “It’s a relief for the millions of seniors that take these drugs to treat everything from heart failure, blood clots, diabetes, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and more – and it’s a relief for American taxpayers.”
