Medicare targets Botox and 14 other drugs for next round of price negotiations, KFF Health News reports

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has named a new list of prescription drugs for Medicare price negotiations, including Botox and the diabetes medication Trulicity, according to KFF Health News’ morning briefing published Wednesday, January 28, 2026. The selections are part of the drug-pricing provisions created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which gave Medicare authority to negotiate prices on a limited number of high-spend drugs each year. Under the timetable described in the briefing, negotiated prices from this round are expected to apply in 2028.

CMS’ list includes 15 medicines spanning multiple therapeutic areas, from respiratory and autoimmune conditions to cancer and mental health. As summarized by KFF Health News, the lineup includes Anoro Ellipta, Biktarvy, Botox, Cimzia, Cosentyx, Entyvio, Erleada, Kisqali, Lenvima, Orencia, Rexulti, Trulicity, Verzenio, Xeljanz, and Xolair. The selection is designed to focus bargaining power on drugs that represent major costs within Medicare, where high list prices can translate into significant spending for the program and, depending on benefit design, potentially higher out-of-pocket costs for some patients.

The policy is politically and economically significant because it changes how prices may be set for a subset of widely used brand-name drugs. Supporters argue that negotiated prices can slow Medicare spending growth and reduce the financial burden on beneficiaries who rely on expensive treatments. Critics, including some pharmaceutical industry voices, have warned that negotiation may reduce incentives for innovation or lead to changes in launch pricing strategies, while supporters counter that the program is targeted and structured around medicines that have already been on the market and represent large cumulative costs.

This new selection also comes as the first negotiated prices from an earlier round have already begun to take effect, adding a real-world test case for how the program influences spending and access. With the 2028 negotiation outcomes still ahead, the current announcement is best viewed as the opening of a multi-year process—one that will involve data submissions, negotiation timelines, and intense public and private lobbying from manufacturers, patient advocacy groups, insurers, and providers.

For patients and clinicians, the immediate impact is not a price change overnight, but clarity about which drugs are entering the pipeline for Medicare negotiation. For manufacturers, it is an early signal to plan for potential revenue shifts and contract adjustments. And for policymakers, it is another step in a broader experiment: whether a more active Medicare role in setting prices can improve affordability without causing access disruptions or unintended market consequences. The program’s outcomes will be judged not only by the negotiated numbers in 2028, but also by how the changes affect formularies, prescribing patterns, and beneficiary costs over time.