Medicare makes opening bid to pharma companies in talks to lower drug costs

Bottles of the blood thinner Eliquis, one of 10 prescription drugs the Biden administration has chosen for price negotiations in an effort to lower Medicare costs. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

The Biden administration has announced that representatives of Medicare, a public health insurance program that covers 47 million American seniors and disabled people, on Thursday sent initial offers to pharmaceutical companies in negotiations over 10 of the program’s most expensive and commonly used drugs.

The initial offers are part of a negotiation timeline set by law, and will set the tone for what is expected to be an intense process between the administration and drugmakers, who have launched at least 10 lawsuits against the government.