Opinion: I'm the director of the Center for Medicare. Here's how we executed the first round of drug price negotiation

The historic Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has fundamentally improved the affordability of and access to prescription drugs for millions of people with Medicare. The law laid out aggressive timelines for implementing the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. As the director of Medicare, my team and I worked thoughtfully and diligently to stand up the program — on time and successfully.

As a physician, I have seen how life-changing innovative treatments can be — but only if people can afford them. As an economist, I know how important it is to use data to drive market improvements. The first cycle of negotiations resulted in meaningful projected savings for Medicare and for people with Medicare — an estimated $6 billion for the program if the negotiated prices were in place in 2023 for the first 10 selected drugs, and $1.5 billion in estimated out-of-pocket savings for people with Medicare prescription drug coverage when the negotiated prices are set to go into effect in 2026. All of this was achieved while prioritizing innovation and access, and ensuring that the tangible impact of these negotiations for people who rely on prescription drugs to stay healthy was at the center of our work.

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