As the new administration seeks to tackle the soaring cost of healthcare in the United States, it is imperative that new policies don’t undermine the long-term health of those they seek to serve.

That is exactly what happened last time Congress passed significant healthcare legislation.

Although well-intentioned, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has ultimately been detrimental to patient well-being.

The IRA law effectively empowered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to impose price controls on certain prescription drugs, and CMS just announced it will target 15 additional medications over the coming months.

Among the drugs included on the list are the latest GLP-1 blockbuster drugs that have shown tremendous benefits for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss — namely Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy.

According to CMS, 5.3 million Americans on Medicare used these semaglutide drugs between Nov. 1, 2023, and Oct. 1. Roughly 67.3 million Americans were enrolled in Medicare coverage in 2024, accounting for nearly 20% of the United States population.

This means that nearly 1 /10th of Medicare beneficiaries are utilizing these medications, meaning they cost CMS a sizeable amount of money each year.

Attacking the cost of prescription drugs makes for excellent soundbites, but there is more at stake than just the cost of the medicines today.

Simply looking at the cost of medication and trying to force price controls is a recipe for unintended consequences in the long term.

Research conducted by the University of Chicago demonstrates that the IRA’s price controls will reduce spending on research by 18.5%.

This will result in losing $663 billion of investment in life-saving treatments, preventing the development of up to 135 fewer drugs.

That is 135 fewer chances for life-saving treatments that could benefit patients across America.

As studies begin to identify additional health benefits of semaglutide drugs, it is vital that new policies do not reduce further research that could help advance these treatments.

Pharmaceutical companies spend an estimated $2.6 billion to bring the average drug to market and an additional $320 million in further research.

The continuation of this funding is imperative to develop an understanding of how it can treat other conditions.

One such example is semaglutide, originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2017 to treat Type 2 diabetes, which is now approved for weight management and reducing the risk of heart attack and strokes.

Today, there are even more exciting possibilities for semaglutide that could yield even greater benefits to more health conditions.

Allowing a financial pathway for these investments is less expensive than completely starting new research.

It will result in lower overall healthcare system costs and lead to healthier patients needing fewer interventions in the long run.

It is vital for the new administration to take seriously the research that warns of the dangers of price controls and focus on meaningful reforms that keep patients access to care and focus on wellness allowing patients to thrive.

Julie Gill Shuffield is executive director of Patients Come First-California, a consumer movement aimed at putting patients and consumers back at the forefront of healthcare through advocacy, science, education and collaboration.