More than 50 bipartisan lawmakers are urging the Trump CMS not to finalize a Medicare drug proposal they say would discourage improved cancer treatments.
In a Sept. 21 letter obtained by Fox News Digital, House members from both parties asked Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz to pull a proposed fixed-dose combination policy from the final rule for Medicare’s Drug Price Negotiation Program.
The lawmakers warn the rule would put better versions of existing medicines into price talks almost as soon as the Food and Drug Administration clears them. They say that would dull the incentive to improve cancer care and leave patients with fewer options.
Signers include Reps. John Joyce, R-Pa.; Darin LaHood, R-Ill.; Mike Kennedy, R-Utah; Tim Moore, R-N.C.; Jim Costa, D-Calif.; and Donald Davis, D-N.C., among more than 50 members overall.
Former President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. That statute created the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, which lets the federal government set prices on selected drugs for Medicare.
The Trump administration proposed the fixed-dose combination piece in June while carrying out that program. CMS has described the aim, as reported, as stopping drugmakers from dodging or delaying negotiated prices by making limited changes and marketing the result as a new product.
Lawmakers answer that the FDA already treats many of these therapies as separate medicines. They note the agency requires separate clinical trials and separate approvals. In their view, Medicare should do the same under the negotiation rules.
The letter focuses on real treatment gains, not abstract pricing theory. Members point to cancer immunotherapy advances that let patients get a quick injection instead of hours-long IV infusions.
Those changes can make care faster and easier. The lawmakers say the gains matter most for patients in rural areas, where long clinic visits are harder to manage.
They put the stakes in plain terms in the letter:
"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,"
They added a direct warning on cancer:
"Patients fighting cancer deserve access to the most advanced new therapies, and if CMS finalizes this proposal, those advances are less likely to reach those who need it the most,"
And they closed with a clear ask:
"We strongly urge CMS to withdraw the fixed-dose combination proposal from the final rule,"
Their standard for policy is blunt. “The patients we represent need policies that expand access to lifesaving care and reward medical progress and innovation in the treatment of deadly diseases.”
Price controls are sold as a taxpayer win. The bipartisan group says the math is missing.
They argue CMS actuaries “have not been able to show this policy would produce meaningful savings for taxpayers.” If the savings case is weak and the innovation risk is real, they want the proposal out of the final rule.
CMS could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment. No final agency decision on the letter is reported.
At issue is timing. After FDA approval, how soon would a newer fixed-dose combination or improved version of an existing drug face Medicare negotiation?
Lawmakers say “almost immediately” is too fast. They contend that timeline punishes firms that invest in better delivery, better combinations, and more practical care, especially for cancer.
CMS, as described in the reporting, frames the same timeline as a guardrail against thin redesigns meant only to reset the negotiation clock. The letter rejects that tradeoff when the FDA has already run a full, separate review.
The program itself is a Biden-era structure. The June proposal sits inside that structure. The Sept. 21 letter is a bipartisan attempt to keep one piece of the implementing rule from landing on patients and developers of improved therapies.
Joyce, LaHood, Kennedy, Moore, Costa, Davis, and their colleagues are not asking to repeal the whole negotiation program in this letter. They are asking Oz and CMS to strip out the fixed-dose combination policy before the final rule locks it in.
When Congress writes price controls into Medicare and later discovers the fine print can freeze the next round of cancer advances, patients should not be the ones left holding the bill.
