# Drug Price Negotiation **Medicare drug price negotiation** is the authority — created by the [[Inflation Reduction Act]] (2022) — for [[CMS]] to negotiate a **Maximum Fair Price (MFP)** on selected high-cost drugs, breaking the [[Medicare Part D]] "non-interference" clause that had barred it since 2003. ## How It Works The HHS Secretary negotiates prices for **10 drugs effective 2026, 15 more for 2027 and 2028, and 20 each year from 2029**. The first 10 negotiated prices took effect January 2026 at a minimum of **38% off the 2023 list price**, with CMS projecting roughly $1.5 billion in Part D out-of-pocket savings. The second cohort of 15 (effective 2027) includes the Ozempic/Wegovy GLP-1 family. ## Why It Matters This is the policy [[Big Pharma]] and [[PhRMA]] spent record lobbying totals to block, then to narrow — the industry's deflection campaign sought to redirect blame onto [[Pharmacy Benefit Managers]] instead. Manufacturers have challenged the program in court, framing negotiation as unconstitutional "price-setting." It runs in parallel with the executive-branch [[Most-Favored-Nation Drug Pricing Deals]], a different and sometimes competing mechanism. See [[Drug Pricing]]. ## Sync note - August 2026 Negotiation itself is intact, but the premium scaffolding built around the same IRA redesign is not: [[CMS]] announced on July 28, 2026 that it will end the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration at the close of CY 2026, removing the subsidy that had absorbed the premium volatility the redesign created. Negotiated prices continue; the standalone premiums those savings sit inside are set to rise. See [[Medicare Part D]].