ADDRESSING DRUG PRICES FOR AMERICANS AND TAXPAYERS: Today, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Order aimed at aligning prescription drug prices for Americans with those in comparable countries.
- The Order mandates that the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce take necessary actions to prevent foreign nations from engaging in practices that artificially depress market prices and contribute to rising costs in the United States.
- It also instructs the Administration to communicate specific price targets to pharmaceutical companies, emphasizing that the U.S., as the largest buyer of prescription drugs globally, should receive the best possible pricing.
- The Secretary of Health and Human Services is tasked with creating a mechanism that allows American patients to purchase their medications directly from manufacturers at a “Most-Favored-Nation” price, thereby cutting out the middlemen.
- If drug manufacturers do not comply with the most-favored-nation pricing, the Order empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to propose regulations that enforce this pricing strategy and to implement other measures aimed at significantly reducing drug costs for American consumers and curbing anticompetitive behaviors.
SECURING A BETTER DEAL FOR AMERICANS: President Trump is once again taking steps to prevent pharmaceutical companies from imposing exorbitant prices on American consumers while offering substantial discounts to wealthier nations.
- Recent statistics reveal that Americans pay over three times more for brand-name medications than their counterparts in other OECD countries, even after accounting for U.S.-specific discounts.
- With less than five percent of the global population, the United States contributes approximately 75% of global pharmaceutical profits.
- Pharmaceutical companies often offer discounts to enter foreign markets, subsequently recouping those losses by charging higher prices in the U.S. This means that American consumers are effectively subsidizing both drug manufacturers’ profits and health systems abroad, despite these companies benefiting from substantial research funding and healthcare expenditure from the U.S. government.
- During his first term, President Trump implemented significant measures to ensure that Medicare and seniors wouldn’t face higher drug prices than those in economically comparable countries—an initiative that the Biden Administration swiftly rescinded.
- Instead of addressing this ongoing issue, the Biden Administration’s notable achievement was negotiating prices that averaged 78 percent higher than those in 11 similar countries as part of Biden’s initiative to “beat Medicare.”
FULFILLING PROMISES TO PRIORITIZE AMERICAN PATIENTS: President Trump is following through on his commitment to prioritize Americans by enhancing efforts to secure fair pricing for prescription drugs.
- This Executive Order builds upon the initiatives from President Trump’s first term, expanding the focus to include Medicaid alongside Medicare in the quest to address price disparities.
- Recently, President Trump enacted another Executive Order aimed at further lowering drug prices, which includes substantial discounts for low-income patients needing lifesaving medications, facilitating importation programs, and increasing access to generic and biosimilar drugs.
- Additionally, transparency in drug pricing is a key focus, with President Trump signing an Executive Order to enhance the price transparency initiatives he started in his first term.
- President Trump has been unwavering in his commitment to tackle the unjust and excessive prices that Americans face for prescription drugs:
- President Trump remarked: “In case after case, our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill, from the same factory, effectively subsidizing socialism abroad with skyrocketing prices at home. We end up spending tremendous amounts of money to provide inexpensive drugs to another country. When I mention price differences, you can find cases where the cost is four to five times higher.”
