Drug prices & Part D
Lower prices on 15 drugs arrive in 2027
Medicare's negotiated prices for 15 widely used medicines take effect this coming January. Here is what that changes, and what it does not, for your own pharmacy bill.
By the Goodsurance editorial teamJuly 1, 2026
Starting January 1, 2027, Medicare's first round of negotiated prices on a second set of 15 high cost drugs takes effect. Public reporting has identified the popular diabetes and weight loss medicines Ozempic and Wegovy among them, alongside treatments for other common conditions. Medicare says that if these negotiated prices had been in place in 2024, they would have lowered net Medicare drug spending by about 8.5 billion dollars, or roughly 36 percent on those drugs. This builds on the first ten negotiated prices that took effect in January 2026, and Medicare is still refining the program, with a proposed update published June 12, 2026 and open for public comment through August 17. Here is the honest read for your own wallet. A negotiated price lowers what the Medicare program pays for a drug, which helps hold down overall costs and can ripple into plan pricing. What you personally pay at the pharmacy still depends on your specific plan, its formulary, and where you are in the year. For most people, the bigger everyday protection is the annual cap on out of pocket drug costs, reported at 2,100 dollars for 2026, which limits your total spending on covered drugs no matter how expensive they are. So the takeaway is not to switch anything today. It is to know that lower negotiated prices are coming for these drugs in January, and to compare plans this fall on how they actually cover the medicines you take.
Medicare's negotiated prices on 15 more drugs, reportedly including Ozempic and Wegovy, take effect January 1, 2027.
In plain words
Medicare can now negotiate the price of some very costly drugs. The first ten lower prices started in January 2026. Now a second group of 15 drugs gets lower prices, starting January 1, 2027. News reports say two of them are the well known drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. Medicare says these prices could cut its drug spending by about 8.5 billion dollars, roughly 36 percent on those drugs. Here is what it means for you. A negotiated price lowers what Medicare pays. What you pay at the pharmacy still depends on your own plan and the time of year. For most people, the bigger help is the yearly limit on what you pay out of pocket for covered drugs, set at 2,100 dollars for 2026. That caps your total no matter how pricey the drug. You do not need to do anything today. Just know the lower prices are coming in January, and when you shop this fall, check how each plan covers the drugs you take.
Understand the basics first
Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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