WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. government will

save $6 billion in the first year from lower prices the Biden

administration negotiated on 10 top-selling prescription drugs

for the Medicare health program for older Americans, officials

said on Thursday.

President Joe Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act,

signed into law in 2022, allows Medicare to negotiate prices for

some of the most costly drugs that the program covers for 66

million people. Those new prices, which will go into effect in

2026, are set to be unveiled later today.

The administration said people covered by Medicare, which

mostly serves Americans aged 65 and over, would also save $1.5

billion in out-of-pocket costs for the prescription medicines

that year. They include widely used diabetes treatments Januvia

and Jardiance, blood thinners Eliquis and Xarelto and leukemia

drug Imbruvica.

The officials did not provide further detail on the new

prices nor say why the full $6 billion in savings would not be

passed to patients.

The Democratic-run administration hopes the cost savings

will ease Americans' anger about high prices, an issue they

frequently say is their top concern headed into the closely

contested Nov. 5 presidential election between Democratic Vice

President Kamala Harris and Republican ex-President Donald

Trump.

"Every American should be able to access the health care

they need no matter their income or wealth," said Harris, who is

holding events this week on her plans to cut costs.

Harris' tie-breaking Senate vote passed the law that allows

for the drug-price negotiations, which no Republicans supported.

In a statement, she also pointed to her work as California

attorney general holding "big pharma accountable for their

deceptive and illegal practices."

PRICE PAIN

More than half of voters in 2020 were over the age of 50,

and healthcare consumes about 8% of Americans' spending,

according to Pew Research Center and Labor Department data.

Inflation has ebbed, but higher prices since the COVID

pandemic have left consumers smarting. Consumer prices rose 2.9%

over the twelve months through July, and the category including

prescription drugs gained roughly the same percentage.

U.S. health secretary Xavier Becerra characterized the

negotiations with drugmakers as comprehensive and intense.

"After substantial back and forth, either we accepted an

offer or a company accepted our offer," he said.

The administration released its list of the 10 costliest

drugs to Medicare that would be subject to negotiations last

year, with big-selling blood thinner Eliquis from Bristol Myers

Squibb ( BMY ) and Pfizer ( PFE ) among them.

Merck & Co's ( MRK ) diabetes drug Januvia, Eliquis rival

Xarelto from Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) and AbbVie's ( ABBV )

Imbruvica were also selected.

Other medicines picked for negotiations included Amgen's ( AMGN )

rheumatoid arthritis treatment Enbrel, Boehringer

Ingelheim and Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) Jardiance, J&J's arthritis and

Crohn's disease medicine Stelara and insulin from Novo Nordisk

.

The pharmaceuticals industry has fought hard to block the

Medicare negotiations, with several companies suing the

administration and warning that they may have to curtail some

drug development programs as a result.

Several of these drugmakers last month said they did not

expect a significant impact on their businesses after seeing

confidential prices from the government for their drugs that

will take effect in 2026.

The next round of Medicare drug price talks are expected to

include 15 further drugs and begin in February.