Public Engagement Events

Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program graphic

As part of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, CMS hosts public engagement events which provide an opportunity for patients, caregivers, clinicians, and others to share their experience relevant to the drugs selected for negotiation and renegotiation. 

In an effort to engage with stakeholders and incorporate their perspectives into the negotiations, CMS seeks the public’s input relevant to the selected drugs, the condition(s) that the selected drug may be used to treat, and other medications that may be used to manage those conditions. This includes information related to the clinical benefits of the selected drugs compared to therapeutic alternatives, how the selected drugs address unmet needs, and how the selected drugs impact specific populations. 

Initial Price Applicability Year 2028 Public Engagement Events – Make Your Voice Heard

This spring, CMS will host a livestreamed town hall meeting for all selected drugs, focused on the clinical considerations related to the selected drugs and will host private (i.e., not livestreamed or open to press or general public) patient-focused roundtable events, one for each drug selected for negotiation and renegotiation, which will be open to patients, representatives of patient advocacy organizations, and caregivers selected to speak at the events, and will allow for discussion among speakers. All stakeholders are welcome to attend and participate in the town hall meeting.  

Accommodation for people with disabilities and language assistance (e.g., interpretation) may be available. 

CMS encourages the public to submit written input, if interested, in response to the CMS information collection request about selected drugs and evidence about alternative treatments. Submissions can include data on the selected drugs, therapeutic alternatives to the selected drugs, data related to unmet medical need and impacts on specific populations as well as the patient/caregiver experience. Statements can be submitted here by March 1, 2026.

Learn more by downloading this infographic (PDF).

Public Engagement Event Dates: The roundtable events will be held April 6 – April 17, 2026, and the town hall will be held April 22 – April 23, 2026. Registration will be open until March 6, 2026.  

The public engagement events are subject to change, including postponement and/or cancellation.  

Roundtable Events

  • Anoro Ellipta: Monday, April 6 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET  
  • Biktarvy: Monday, April 6 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET  
  • Botox; Botox Cosmetic: Wednesday, April 8 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET  
  • Cimzia: Wednesday, April 8 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET
  • Cosentyx: Thursday, April 9 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET  
  • Entyvio: Thursday, April 9 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET
  • Erleada: Friday, April 10 from 12 – 2 p.m. ET
  • Kisqali: Monday, April 13 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET
  • Lenvima: Monday, April 13 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET  
  • Orencia: Tuesday, April 14 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET
  • Rexulti: Tuesday, April 14 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET  
  • Trulicity: Wednesday, April 15 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET 
  • Verzenio: Wednesday, April 15 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET
  • Xeljanz; Xeljanz XR: Thursday, April 16 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET  
  • Xolair: Thursday, April 16 from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. ET
  • Tradjenta (renegotiated): Friday, April 17 from 12 – 2 p.m. ET 

Town Hall Meeting

  • Wednesday, April 22:
    • Session 1 from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET
      • Anoro Ellipta
      • Biktarvy
      • Botox; Botox Cosmetic
      • Rexulti
    • Session 2 from 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET
      • Kisqali
      • Verzenio
      • Erleada
      • Lenvima
  • Thursday, April 23:
    • Session 3 from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. ET
      • Xolair
      • Cosentyx
      • Orencia
      • Xeljanz; Xeljanz XR
    • Session 4 from 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET
      • Cimzia
      • Entyvio
      • Trulicity
      • Tradjenta (renegotiated)

Event Attendance and Registration

CMS encourages practicing clinicians and researchers, as well as other interested parties, to register to speak at the town hall meeting. Participation in the roundtable events will be open to patients, representatives of patient advocacy organizations, and caregivers. 

Anyone from the public may attend the town hall livestream as a listener and does not need to register to attend. The roundtable events will be private (i.e., not livestreamed and open only to patients, representatives of patient advocacy organizations, and caregivers selected to speak). Registration is only necessary to speak at one or more of the public engagement events. 

Registration for the opportunity to speak at the public engagement events is now open and will close at 11:59 p.m. PT on March 6, 2026. 

Selected participants will receive a confirmation email the week of March 9, 2026. If you are selected to speak at the event for which you registered, you will have 4 business days after receiving the confirmation email to confirm your availability to participate at the selected event date and time, and any accommodation you need. 

CMS is interested in input relevant to the selected drugs, the condition(s) that the selected drug may be used to treat, and other medications that may be used to manage those conditions. This includes information related to the clinical benefits of the selected drugs compared to therapeutic alternatives, how the selected drugs address unmet need, and how the selected drugs impact specific populations.  

CMS will use the information shared during the roundtable events to better understand patients’ experiences with the conditions and diseases treated by the selected drugs and patients’ experiences with the selected drugs themselves. CMS will use the information shared during the town hall meeting to better understand clinicians’ experiences prescribing and/or managing treatment with the selected drugs or their therapeutic alternatives and clinicians’ considerations that drive treatment choice between the selected drugs and therapeutic alternatives. The information shared during both the town hall meeting and the roundtable events will also inform CMS’ identification of therapeutic alternatives, key outcomes, and holistic adjustment of the starting point to develop the initial offer in negotiating with manufacturers of selected drugs. CMS will release redacted transcripts for the town hall meeting and each of the roundtable events, omitting participant names and other identifying information, after all the events have ended. 

For more information about the public engagement events, please see the Frequently Asked Questions document linked here (PDF).

Communications Toolkit

Use these ready-to-use materials to leverage your various communication channels and share information about the public engagement events. Rally your communities to share their experience with the selected drugs and their alternatives and make their voice heard.

Download the Communications Toolkit 

Toolkit zip file

Initial Price Applicability Year 2027 Public Engagement Events   

CMS hosted a livestreamed town hall meeting for all selected drugs, which was focused on the clinical considerations related to the selected drugs. CMS also hosted 15 private (i.e., not livestreamed or open to press or general public) patient-focused roundtable events, one for each selected drug for patients, patient advocacy organizations, and caregivers. These events occurred between April 16 – 30, 2025. 

CMS released redacted transcripts for the town hall meeting and each roundtable event after all the events ended. To maintain fidelity with speakers’ remarks, the transcripts reflect speakers’ language and word choices, including colloquial language. The transcripts were lightly edited for readability. Names and other identifying data were redacted for patients, patient advocacy organization representatives, and family members/caregivers according to the Safe Harbor method.

Initial Price Applicability Year 2027 Redacted Transcripts 

Roundtable Events:

Town Hall Meeting Sessions:

Additional Information 

Event Attendance and Registration

The town hall meeting provided an opportunity for clinicians, researchers, and other interested parties to share input relevant to the selected drugs, such as clinicians’ experiences prescribing and/or managing treatment with the selected drugs or therapeutic alternatives and clinicians’ considerations that drive treatment choice between the selected drugs and therapeutic alternatives. The roundtable events provided an opportunity for patients, patient advocacy organizations and caregivers to share input relevant to the selected drugs, such as patients’ experiences with the selected drugs, patients’ experiences with the conditions and diseases treated by the selected drugs, and patients’ experiences with other medications that may be used to manage those conditions.

To accommodate as many speakers as possible during the town hall meeting, public statements were limited to no more than four minutes per person. To help speakers in planning remarks, CMS provided the following optional discussion topics:

Town Hall Meeting

  • Experience prescribing and/or managing treatment with the selected drug or therapeutic alternatives for the condition(s) treated by the selected drug.
  • Information related to the goals of the treatment for the condition(s) treated by the selected drug, including outcomes used to assess improvement or treatment response.
  • Considerations that drive treatment choice among the selected drug and therapeutic alternatives.
  • Information about the extent to which the selected drug currently represents (or does not represent) a therapeutic advance as compared to therapeutic alternatives.
  • Information about the extent to which the selected drug or therapeutic alternatives currently address (or do not address) an unmet medical need for the condition(s) treated by the selected drug.
  • Any other information about the selected drug, the condition(s) it is used to treat, and other treatments used for that condition(s) that the speaker believes CMS should consider.

Roundtable Events

  • Patients’ day-to-day experiences living with the condition(s) treated by the selected drug, including how the experience may differ for different patient populations as well as patients’ caregivers and families.
  • How the selected drug impacts patients, including both benefits and side effects, as compared to the therapeutic alternative(s), and which outcomes matter most to patients with the condition(s) treated by the selected drug.
  • Any other information about the selected drug, the condition(s) it is used to treat, and other treatments used for that condition(s) that the speaker believes CMS should consider.
  • Any other information about the selected drug, the condition(s) it is used to treat, and other treatments used for that condition(s) that the speaker believes is important to share with CMS.

Submitted Statement

In addition to the opportunity to provide input during a public engagement event, the public was also able to submit written input by March 1, 2025, in response to the 2025 CMS information collection request about selected drugs and evidence about alternative treatments. Submissions could include data on the selected drugs, therapeutic alternatives to the selected drugs, data related to unmet medical need and impacts on specific populations as well as the patient/caregiver experience. 

Initial Price Applicability Year 2026 Public Engagement Events 

CMS hosted 10 Listening Sessions, one for each of the selected drugs, between October 30 - November 15, 2023. Below, find redacted copies of the patient-focused Listening Session transcripts. To maintain fidelity with speakers’ remarks, the transcripts reflect speakers’ language and word choices, including colloquial language. Names and other identifying data were redacted for patients, patient advocacy organization representatives, and family members/caregivers according to the Safe Harbor method.

Initial Price Applicability Year 2026 Redacted Transcripts 
Additional Information 

Listening Session Attendance and Registration

  • The listening sessions provided an opportunity for patient-focused input relevant to the selected drugs, including information related to clinical benefit of the selected drugs as compared to therapeutic alternatives, how the selected drugs address unmet need, and how the selected drugs impact specific populations. The sessions were listen-only; CMS did not respond to feedback during the sessions.
  • To accommodate as many speakers as possible during each session, public statements were limited to no more than three minutes per person. To help speakers in planning remarks, CMS provided the following optional discussion topics:
  • Patients’ day-to-day experiences living with the condition(s) treated by the selected drug, including how the experience may differ for different patient populations as well as patient caregivers and families.
  • How the selected drug impacts patients, including both benefits and side effects, as compared to the therapeutic alternative(s), and which outcomes matter most to patients with the condition(s) treated by the selected drug.
  • Patient experiences of access, adherence, and affordability of the selected drug as compared to therapeutic alternative(s).
  • Any other information about the selected drug, the condition(s) it is used to treat, and other treatments used for that condition(s) that the speaker believes is important.

The Listening Sessions were open to the public and were live streamed. CMS used a process to randomly select speakers from among the individuals who registered for the chance to speak.

Submitted Statement

In addition to the opportunity to provide input during a listening session, the public was also able to submit written input between September 1 – October 2, 2023, in response to the 2023 CMS information collection request about selected drugs and evidence about alternative treatments. Submissions could include data on the selected drugs, therapeutic alternatives to the selected drugs, data related to unmet medical need and impacts on specific populations as well as the patient/caregiver experience. 

Contact Information

For further information about the public engagement events please contact CMS by email at IRARebateAndNegotiation@cms.hhs.gov with the subject line “Public Engagement Events.”

Page Last Modified:
02/17/2026 12:16 PM
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