DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Many seniors struggle to pay for life-saving prescription drugs. Now, a new plan from the White House could make those medications more affordable.

The Biden Administration announced Medicare will begin the process of directly negotiating prices for 10 different prescription drugs.

The drugs selected to undergo negotiations are:

  • Eliquis, a blood thinner
  • Xarelto, a blood thinner
  • Januvia, a diabetes drug
  • Jardiance, a diabetes drug
  • Enbrel, a rheumatoid arthritis drug
  • Imbruvica, a drug for blood cancers
  • Farxiga, a drug for diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease
  • Entresto, a heart failure drug
  • Stelara, a drug for psoriasis and Crohn’s disease
  • Fiasp and NovoLog, for diabetes

The negotiation is part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The act, which was signed by President Biden in 2022, means Medicare will begin negotiating the price of those drugs for the first time.

The White House says millions of people nationwide take at least one of the 10 drugs on the list, and successful negotiations could save those people thousands of dollars a year.

Experts say there are pros and cons associated with this plan.

“The largest pro is that this negotiation could lower out-of-pocket expenses for people,” Dr. Jared Pincin, associate professor of economics at Cedarville University, said. “It could also lower potentially premiums that you would pay into Medicare, Now, that remains to be seen, but that is a possible pro.”

However, if the plan works to lower costs, it could have unintended consequences.

“Prices that are not dictated by market demand or market supply anymore,” Dr. Pincin added. “So, that could lead to shortages. That’s what we tend to see when we see price fixing in other markets, because the supplier no longer has the incentive to produce the same amount of drugs in this case as they would if they were able to get a higher market price.”

The negotiated prices will go into effect in 2026. Following that, in 2027, negotiated prices will go into effect for 15 more drugs and another 15 in 2028.