Patients Get Chance to Talk About IRA Top 10 Drugs at Listening Sessions

Virtual listening-only sessions for the public regarding the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program began Monday — and will continue through mid-November — providing an opportunity for patients, beneficiaries and caregivers to provide input on a single drug in each session.

The listening sessions are a key component of the negotiations with pharmaceutical manufacturers on the 10 drugs selected for the first round of negotiations, a grouping that represents $50.5 billion in Medicare Part D prescription drug costs, or 20 percent of total gross spent between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023.

CMS says that it is interested in receiving patient-focused input related to clinical benefit of the selected drugs as compared to therapeutic alternatives, how the selected drugs address unmet needs and how the selected drugs impact specific populations. The sessions will be listen-only, as CMS will not respond to feedback during the sessions.

Read the entire patient listening schedule here.

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