By Allen Pinn, Manager, Policy & Jennifer Dexter, Vice President, Policy

As the next cycle of drug negotiations begins under the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (MDPNP), the National Health Council (NHC) launched its Initial Price Applicability Year (IPAY) 2028 Patient and Provider Toolkit. Designed to help patient and provider organizations navigate the upcoming cycle, the toolkit offers practical guidance on preparing for engagement opportunities. Notably, IPAY 2028 marks the first year the program will include both Medicare Part D and Part B drugs. 

Established through the IRA, the MDPNP allows Medicare to negotiate prices with manufacturers for a set of high-impact drugs each year, which was prohibited prior to the IRA’s passage. While including patient engagement in this process is not required by law, advocacy from the NHC and other stakeholders has helped ensure that each cycle includes opportunities for patients and providers to share written and oral input on the value and impact of the selected drugs. 

Over previous MDPNP several cycles, the NHC has partnered with affected patient groups to support effective engagement and has gathered post-cycle feedback to share with CMS. This input has contributed to multiple process improvements, underscoring the agency’s commitment to learning from patient and provider experiences. 

This year, the NHC worked to help patients begin their engagement preparations as early as possible, recognizing that MDPNP timelines are often tight. In December, the NHC hosted a webinar open to all patient groups that reviewed lessons learned from previous cycles and outlined expectations for the upcoming one. During the webinar, the NHC also launched a toolkit to further support these efforts by providing step-by-step guidance for both patients and providers. 

Building on this work, the NHC hosted a second webinar in January with CMS entitled “Engaging Patients in Medicare Drug Price Negotiations with CMS: What’s Next and How to Participate.” The session highlighted opportunities to strengthen engagement for the 2028 cycle, with CMS officials outlining specific participation pathways and reiterating the importance of patient and provider perspectives. Officials emphasized that these communities’ close connections to people living with chronic conditions provide critical insight into treatment benefits, side effects, and real-world outcomes—information that helps shape more effective policies for Medicare enrollees. 

On January 27, CMS announced the next round of 15 drugs up for negotiation and renegotiations: 

• Anoro Ellipta 
• Biktarvy 
• Botox; Botox Cosmetic 
• Cimzia 
• Cosentyx 
• Entyvio 
• Erleada 
• Kisqali 
• Lenvima 
• Orencia 
• Rexulti 
• Trulicity 
• Verzenio 
• Xeljanz and Xeljanz XR 
• Xolair 

The schedule of public engagement events can be found here, and the tool for submitting comments can be found here. 

If you, your organization, or others are affected by these drugs and plan on participating, the NHC is here to help. Please feel free to reach out to Jennifer Dexter (jdexter@nhcouncil.org) for assistance.