ANALYSIS: Biden’s Drug Price Program Hangs on Nature of Medicare

A trio of cases before the Third Circuit will likely clarify that the voluntary nature of Medicare prevents drugmakers from toppling a landmark government drug price-setting program.

The appeals court on Oct. 28 is tentatively scheduled to hear challenges from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Bristol Myers over the Biden administration’s drug price negotiation program—which the government claims will save Americans $7.5 billion in its inaugural year. The pharmaceutical giants are appealing lower court rulings that tossed their constitutional claims.

The key question in the cases is whether the drug price scheme improperly forces drugmakers to give up ...