Published January 17, 2025

10:15 AM EST

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Key Takeaways

  • Medicare will negotiate prices for Ozempic and 14 other drugs in 2025, with prices taking effect in 2026.
  • Negotiations could lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries, which could help more people afford weight loss drugs that currently cost almost $1,000 a month.
  • It’s the second year in a row that Medicare will negotiate drug prices after the Inflation Reduction Act authorized it to do so in 2022.

Blockbuster weight loss drug Ozempic could get cheaper by 2027, as it’s on the list of medications the government is targeting for price negotiations this year.

Medicare will negotiate prices with manufacturers for 15 drugs in 2025, including weight loss drugs Ozempic, Weygovy, and Rybelsus, the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday. New prices will take effect in 2027.

It’s the second year the government’s health insurance program for seniors will negotiate drug prices after the Inflation Reduction Act authorized it to do so in 2022. The first round of negotiations in 2024 resulted in lower prices for 10 drugs, which will take effect in 2026 and save Medicare beneficiaries an estimated $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs.

The second round could prove even more significant, as it includes three drugs in the class of “GLP-1 inhibitors” that have proven highly effective by scientific trials in treating obesity and diabetes but which are prohibitively expensive for many people who could benefit.

  • Trelegy Ellipta (COPD and Athsma)
  • Xtandi (Prostate cancer)
  • Pomalyst (Cancer)
  • Ibrance (Breast cancer)
  • Ofev (Lung disease)
  • Linzess (Irritable bowel syndrome)
  • Calquence (Leukemia)
  • Austedo; Austedo XR (Symptoms of Huntington’s disease)
  • Breo Ellipta (Asthma)
  • Tradjenta (Diabetes)
  • Xifaxan (Irritable bowel syndrome)
  • Vraylar (Mental illness)
  • Janumet; Janumet XR (Diabetes)
  • Otezla (psoriasis)

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