EXCLUSIVE: A bipartisan group of more than 50 lawmakers is urging the Trump administration not to finalize a proposed Medicare policy tied to the Biden-era drug price negotiation program, arguing it could discourage development of improved cancer treatments.In a Sept.21 letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the lawmakers called on Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr.
Mehmet Oz to remove the agency's proposed fixed-dose combination policy from its final rule implementing Medicare's Drug Price Negotiation Program.The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program was created under the Inflation Reduction Act, which former President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022.The Trump administration proposed the policy in June as part of implementing that program.At the center of the dispute is how Medicare would treat newer versions of existing drugs for price negotiation purposes.DR OZ WARNS MEDICARE SCAMMERS ARE STEALING BILLIONS — AND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION COULD BE NEXTThe lawmakers called on CMS Administrator Dr.
Mehmet Oz to remove the agency's proposed fixed-dose combination policy from its final rule implementing Medicare's Drug Price Negotiation Program.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)The lawmakers argue the proposal would cause some improved treatments to face Medicare price negotiations much sooner after receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. They say that would reduce incentives for drugmakers to develop better versions of existing medicines."If finalized, the proposed fixed-dose combination policy would subject these advancements to negotiation almost immediately after FDA approval, harming patient access as well as incentives to develop these improved therapies," the lawmakers wrote.CMS, meanwhile, said the proposal is designed to prevent drugmakers from avoiding or delaying negotiated Medicare prices by making only limited changes to existing drugs and introducing them as new products.DR OZ NAMES 5 ...