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Trump Administration Proposes Rule on Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Timing for Modified Drugs
The proposal targets drugmakers that add active ingredients to avoid Medicare price negotiation. It forms part of the annual rule selecting the next 20 drugs for negotiation.
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The Trump administration on June 12, 2026, proposed changing a policy that prevents drugmakers from avoiding Medicare price negotiation by adding active ingredients to drugs. The policy is part of an annual proposed rule that establishes the process the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses to select the next 20 drugs and biologics for price negotiation.
Those drugs will be announced by February 1, 2027, and their negotiated prices will take effect in 2029.
Medicare must wait seven to 11 years after a product is approved by the Food and Drug Administration before it can negotiate its price. Biologics that are typically administered in doctor offices receive more time before Medicare can negotiate their price than drugs taken orally. The Trump administration considered a similar policy last year but put off a decision to study it further.
The Trump administration says its proposal maintains program integrity. Drugmakers say it would discourage them from improving drugs.
