As I wrote recently in the New York Times, the Inflation Reduction Act "is the single biggest political loss the drug industry has sustained," and in that sense it is a "statement about what's politically possible in reforming the health system." 1 Among the various measures included in this law recently signed by President Biden, is a provision that would give the federal government authority for the first time to negotiate the prices of some drugs in Medicare. The government's leverage would

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... ome from a new tax on drug companies that walk away from the negotiating table. Starting next year, drugmakers will also have to pay penalties to Medicare if they increase prices faster than inflation, and monthly insulin co-pays will be capped at $35 for those enrolled in the Medicare Part D drug benefit. The legislation that created this benefit in 2003 was a pathbreaking