What Does Jardiance Cost in 2026?

Jardiance (empagliflozin) is an oral tablet taken once daily. Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly co-develop and co-market the drug. As of 2026, it carries three FDA-approved indications: lowering blood sugar in adults and children aged 10 and older with type 2 diabetes; reducing the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization in adults with heart failure with either reduced or preserved ejection fraction; and slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease by reducing sustained eGFR decline and end-stage kidney disease risk. Patients on Jardiance solely for heart failure or chronic kidney disease who do not have type 2 diabetes still qualify for the same Medicare pricing and patient assistance programs.

Jardiance was selected as one of the first 10 drugs subject to Medicare price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act (Public Law 117-169, signed August 16, 2022). The negotiated Maximum Fair Price of $197 per 30-day supply took effect January 1, 2026. As a Medicare Part D drug, meaning a self-administered oral tablet dispensed through retail pharmacies, Jardiance carries no HCPCS J-code and is not billed under Medicare Part B. Pricing flows entirely through retail pharmacy and Part D prescription drug plans. No FDA-approved generic empagliflozin exists as of 2026; composition patent protection is expected to hold through approximately 2028 to 2030. Compare this to Farxiga, which already has a generic dapagliflozin approved.

Without insurance at a retail pharmacy, Jardiance runs $550 to $831 per month depending on the pharmacy, dosage strength (10 mg or 25 mg), and local market. With a GoodRx or SingleCare discount card, the price drops to roughly $255 to $395 per month at participating chains. The manufacturer savings card, available at jardiance.com, brings the monthly cost to $0 for most commercially insured patients through savings of up to $150 per 30-day supply. That card is not valid with Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, or any federal or state government health program by federal anti-kickback statute (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b). Uninsured patients who meet income criteria may also qualify for Medicaid — check state income limits. Medicare patients who cannot afford the $197 MFP should apply for Extra Help through Social Security.

What Jardiance Costs by Point of Pay (2026)

The price you pay depends almost entirely on WHERE you pay. The same jardiance can cost many times more at a hospital than at your local pharmacy:

Why Hospitals Charge So Much

Jardiance is primarily a self-administered oral drug dispensed through retail pharmacies, so inpatient hospital billing is far less common than with injectable drugs. When a patient admitted to the hospital is already taking Jardiance at home, the hospital typically continues the prescription during the stay and bundles the drug charge into the DRG (Diagnosis-Related Group) payment under Medicare Part A. In those cases, the drug cost is absorbed into the facility payment and does not appear as a separate line on the patient bill.

When Jardiance does appear as a separate line item on a hospital bill, it is typically because the patient is being initiated on the drug during the admission, or the hospital's billing system has miscoded it as an outpatient observation charge rather than an inpatient DRG component. Hospital chargemasters list Jardiance at markups of 1.5x to 3x the retail acquisition cost. A 30-day supply costing the hospital $400 to $500 at negotiated acquisition pricing may be billed to patients at $900 to $1,800. Patients who see Jardiance as a separate line item should request an itemized bill and compare each drug charge against the hospital's own price-transparency files, which CMS has required hospitals to post publicly since 2021.

One clinical note specific to Jardiance: CMS guidelines recommend stopping SGLT2 inhibitors like Jardiance before surgery or fasting procedures due to the risk of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis. If a patient is admitted for a surgical procedure, the hospital may legitimately discontinue Jardiance during the stay. Patients should verify they are not being billed for Jardiance doses during a stay when the drug was clinically held. If the hospital charges for Jardiance during a period when the medication reconciliation note shows it was discontinued, that is a billing discrepancy worth disputing.

Patient Assistance Programs

Boehringer Ingelheim operates the BI Cares Patient Assistance Program for patients who are uninsured or whose insurance does not cover Jardiance. The program provides up to a 90-day supply of Jardiance at no cost for eligible patients. Patients with Medicare who do not qualify for the Part D Extra Help (Low Income Subsidy) program may also be eligible. Important: the Jardiance manufacturer copay savings card is blocked by federal anti-kickback statute (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b) for patients whose prescriptions are covered by Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, or any government health program. Those patients must use the income-based BI Cares PAP instead:

Medicare Part D

Jardiance is covered under Medicare Part D as a Tier 2 or Tier 3 drug depending on the specific plan formulary. Starting January 1, 2026, Medicare Part D enrollees benefit from the IRA-negotiated Maximum Fair Price of $197 per 30-day supply. All Part D plans, including Medicare Advantage prescription drug (MA-PD) plans, are required to honor this price by federal law. The actual out-of-pocket cost per fill varies by plan design, coverage phase, and whether the enrollee receives the Low Income Subsidy (Extra Help). Enrollees with Extra Help pay roughly $11 per prescription. All Part D enrollees are protected by the 2026 annual out-of-pocket cap of $2,100; after crossing that threshold, cost sharing drops to $0 for the rest of the year.

Before the IRA-negotiated price took effect, Medicare beneficiaries on Jardiance could face annual drug costs of $5,000 or more before reaching the Part D catastrophic coverage phase. The negotiated $197 Maximum Fair Price represents a 66 percent reduction from the pre-negotiation list price of $573. If your Medicare Part D plan is charging more than $197 for a 30-day Jardiance fill in 2026, contact your plan's member services line and request they apply the Maximum Fair Price. Plans are legally required to honor it, and the discrepancy may reflect a formulary-tier coding error or a delay in applying the CMS-mandated price.

Common Jardiance Billing Errors

Jardiance is an oral tablet with no J-code, so the most common billing issues involve formulary tier errors and IRA price application failures rather than HCPCS coding errors. If your pharmacy or insurer is charging more than expected for Jardiance, check for these:

• Part D plan charged more than $197 per 30-day fill in 2026: the Maximum Fair Price is federally mandated for all Part D plans; request the plan apply the MFP and file a coverage determination dispute if declined
• Wrong formulary tier applied: Jardiance placed on Tier 4 or Tier 5 (specialty tier) instead of Tier 2 or Tier 3, which inflates cost-sharing significantly above the $197 MFP
• Pharmacy substituted Farxiga (dapagliflozin) for Jardiance without prescriber authorization: different SGLT2 inhibitors are not therapeutically interchangeable in all approved indications, particularly for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF)
• Manufacturer savings card denied due to plan accumulator adjustment program: if your commercial plan uses an accumulator adjuster, the manufacturer copay card payments may not count toward your deductible; contact your plan's pharmacy benefit manager for clarification
• Inpatient billing for an outpatient prescription: if Jardiance was prescribed during a hospital visit coded as outpatient observation, the drug should be billed through your Part D plan, not as a hospital facility charge; verify your admission status before paying

Frequently Asked Questions