The blood thinner Eliquis and popular diabetes treatments, including Jardiance, are among the first drugs to enter price negotiations in an effort to lower Medicare costs.

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The Biden administration on Tuesday released a list of ten drugs for which the federal government will take a very first step: negotiating drug prices directly with the manufacturer.

This move is expected to reduce costs for some patients, but faces lawsuits from the drug companies and heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers. It’s also a centerpiece of the Democratic presidential re-election field as he seeks a second term in office by touting his work to lower costs for Americans at a time when the country is battling inflation.

Eli Lilly and Co.’s Jardiance diabetes treatments. and Merck’s Januvia made the list, along with Amgen’s autoimmune disease treatment Enbrel. Other medicines include Novartis’ Entresto, which is used to treat heart failure.

For many Americans, the cost of one drug is the difference between life and death, dignity and dependency, hope and fear, Biden said in a statement. That is why we will continue the fight to reduce healthcare costs and will not stop until we get the job done.

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Biden plans to deliver a speech from the White House on health care costs later Tuesday. He will be joined by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Between June 1, 2022 and May 31, the drugs on the list announced Tuesday accounted for more than $50 billion in Medicare prescription drug costs, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

According to AARP research, Medicare spent approximately $10 billion on Eliquis in 2020. The drug treats blood clots in the legs and lungs and reduces the risk of stroke in people with an irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation.

The announcement is an important step under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed by Biden last year. The law requires the federal government to begin negotiating directly with companies for the first time on the prices they charge for some of Medicare’s most expensive drugs.

According to CMS, more than 52 million people who are age 65 or older or have certain severe disabilities or illnesses receive prescription drug coverage through the Medicare Part D program.

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About 9% of Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older in 2021 said they missed a prescription or missed a drug dose because of cost, according to research from the Commonwealth Fund, which studies health care issues.

The agency aims to negotiate the lowest maximum fair price for drugs on the list released Tuesday. That could help some patients who do have coverage but still face large bills, such as high deductibles if they get a prescription.

Currently, pharmacy benefits administrators who run Medicare prescription plans negotiate discounts on a drug’s price. Those discounts sometimes help lower the premiums customers pay for coverage. But they are not allowed to change what a patient spends at the pharmacy counter.

The new drug price negotiations aim to “make drugs more affordable in principle while still making a profit,” said Gretchen Jacobson, who researches Medicare issues at Commonwealth.

Drug companies that refuse to participate in the new negotiation process will be heavily taxed.

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The pharmaceutical industry has been preparing for months to fight these regulations. The plan is already facing several lawsuits, including complaints filed by drugmakers Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb and a major lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA.

PhRMA said in a complaint filed in federal court earlier this year that the law forces drugmakers to agree to a government-dictated price under the threat of a heavy tax, and that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has too much authority for setting prices.

PhRMA representatives also said that pharmacy benefit administrators can still restrict access to negotiated-price drugs by moving the drugs to a level of their form, a list of covered drugs that require higher out-of-pocket payments. Pharmacy benefits administrators can also require patients to try other drugs or seek approval before a prescription can be covered.

Republican lawmakers have also criticized the Biden administration for its plan, saying companies could backtrack on introducing new drugs that could be subject to haggling in the future. They have also questioned whether the government knows enough to propose prices for medicines.

CMS will begin negotiations on the drugs on which it spends the most money. The drugs must also be drugs that have no generic competitors and are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

CMS plans to take this matter up with drugmakers that have a drug on its list, and government officials say they also plan to conduct patient-centered listening sessions. By February 2024, the government will make its first offer with a maximum fair price and then give the drug manufacturers time to respond.

Any negotiated prices will not take effect until 2026. More drugs may be added to the program in the coming years.