She believes the federal government should use its considerable buying power to negotiate for Medicare patients.
Use the federal government's buying power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare patients.
Occurrences
Pingree has co-sponsored a bill to overturn that prohibition. ... the bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the purchase price of covered Part D drugs with pharmaceutical manufacturers
Evidence
unverified · Source version 8241 · locator unknown
Pingree said she was "working to change the way Medicare buys prescription drugs" and called it "crazy" that Medicare was not allowed to negotiate a better deal. The release says she co-sponsored H.R. 684, which would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate the purchase price of covered Part D drugs with pharmaceutical manufacturers.
unverified · Source version 55128 · locator unknown
Roll Call 420 records the House vote on H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which passed 220-207 on the motion to concur in the Senate amendment. Pingree was a member of the House at the time and voted in favor of the measure.
unverified · Source version 8243 · locator unknown
Pingree wrote that she had been pursuing Medicare drug price negotiation for decades and said the Inflation Reduction Act's provision allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices was monumental. The page describes the law as the first time Medicare is empowered to negotiate prescription drug prices and says it will lower drug costs.
unverified · Source version 8244 · locator unknown
CMS said that, for the first time in history, Medicare will have the ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices because of the Inflation Reduction Act. The guidance launched implementation of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program for 2026.
unverified · Source version 8245 · locator unknown
CMS announced the first negotiated prices under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program and said projected savings for people with Medicare Part D coverage would be about $1.5 billion when the prices take effect in 2026.
unverified · Source version 30798 · locator unknown
The Supreme Court rejected appeals from drug manufacturers challenging Medicare drug-price negotiations, leaving lower-court rulings intact and allowing the federal program to continue. AP noted the law required annual negotiations and that the first deals took effect in 2026.
unverified · Source version 55119 · locator unknown
"the file also contains the single negotiated price for a 30-day equivalent supply of each selected drug"
unverified · Source version 55121 · locator unknown
"On January 1, 2026, new negotiated maximum fair prices under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program went into effect"
unverified · Source version 55123 · locator unknown
"we conclude that the IRA permits CMS to treat Austedo and Austedo XR as one statutory drug"
unverified · Source version 55125 · locator unknown
"will go into effect beginning January 1, 2027, based on negotiations and agreements reached between CMS and participating drug companies"
unverified · Source version 55127 · locator unknown
"The Secretary shall establish a Drug Price Negotiation Program"
unverified · Source version 55128 · locator unknown
"Status: Passed"; "Pingree | Democratic | ME | Yea"
Assessments
The promised policy was achieved: the Inflation Reduction Act gave Medicare authority to negotiate certain prescription drug prices, CMS launched the program, and the first negotiated prices were announced for 2026 with projected savings for Medicare patients. Pingree's credit is stronger than mere rhetorical support because she had long backed Medicare drug-price negotiation, co-sponsored earlier legislation on the issue, and voted for the 2022 law that created the authority. Because the outcome was enacted and implemented while she remained in federal office, this is best scored as delivered in the same term context rather than partial credit.
Pingree materially advanced the policy in office by co-sponsoring earlier Medicare drug-negotiation legislation and voting for the Inflation Reduction Act, which created Medicare’s drug-price negotiation authority. CMS later implemented the program and announced the first negotiated prices during her tenure, so the promise was fulfilled in her same term.
The promise was fulfilled because the Inflation Reduction Act created Medicare authority to negotiate prescription drug prices, Pingree voted for that enacted law, and CMS subsequently implemented the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program with the first negotiated prices announced in 2024 for effect in 2026. This matches the promised outcome of using federal buying power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare patients.