GoodRx’s Post

The US government is now negotiating some drug prices. So what does it mean? Today, we finally learned the outcome of negotiations between the U.S. government and pharmaceutical companies to lower Medicare prices for select prescription medications as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). At GoodRx, we support all efforts to lower the cost of medications for consumers. Since 2011, we’ve remained steadfast in our belief that people are simply paying too much to stay healthy. We work hard every single day to change this reality so consumers no longer need to choose between protecting their health and paying for life’s other essential expenses. Today’s news is a step in the right direction. Only 10 brand-name medications were included in the initial IRA negotiations. These medications represent minimal volume on GoodRx’s prescription marketplace - only .1% of our claims in July 2024, for example. While the negotiated prices will save Medicare billions of dollars, these reductions likely won’t have a significant impact on how much patients pay. Consumer out-of-pocket costs will continue to be dictated by the benefit design of their specific insurance plans, not the price ceilings for the medications themselves. This is why bringing cash price savings opportunities to consumers remains so important. GoodRx works directly with manufacturers of brand-name medications to bring their savings and support programs to consumers. For example, last year we partnered with Sanofi to make the insulin Lantus available for $35 at 70,000 pharmacies. This year, we partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim to provide Adalimumab-adbm, an FDA-approved interchangeable biosimilar to Humira, at a 92% discount from the Humira list price. These are just two of the many ways we’re bringing cost savings directly to the patients who need these discounts most. Looking forward, our sights are set on continuing to improve affordability for consumers and establishing additional cash savings opportunities for the medications our users rely on to maintain good health. Today, we have contracted cash programs with almost 40 brand medications, and we expect to add a number of high-impact brands over the next few quarters. We’re continuing our conversations with several pharma manufacturers to provide more affordable ways for people to access medications and welcome the opportunity to work with those outlined in today’s news. While these negotiations may not have a transformational impact on consumer’s wallets, they do draw attention to the outrageous costs placed on people who are just trying to access basic healthcare. We look forward to continuing to work with patients, physicians, pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacies to produce meaningful change.