Trump to sign order slashing US drug prices by up to 80%

United States President Donald Trump (File Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Anadolu, Philippine News Agency

ISTANBUL– US President Donald Trump announced late Sunday that he will sign a sweeping executive order aimed at dramatically reducing prescription drug prices in the US by as much as 80 percent, declaring it one of the “most consequential Executive Orders in our country’s history.”

“For many years the World has wondered why Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceuticals in the United States of America were SO MUCH HIGHER IN PRICE THAN THEY WERE IN ANY OTHER NATION,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.

“It was always difficult to explain…The Pharmaceutical/Drug Companies would say, for years, that it was Research and Development Costs, and that all of these costs were, and would be, for no reason whatsoever, borne by the ‘suckers’ of America, ALONE,” he said.

He said the executive order, scheduled for signing Monday morning at 9 a.m. (local time) in the White House, will introduce a “Most Favored Nation’s Policy” — a pricing model that ensures the US pays no more than the lowest price charged for the same drug in any other developed country.

“Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30 percent to 80 percent,” he added.

“They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”
Move could save Americans billions

The policy echoes a previous effort from Trump’s first term, when his administration attempted to link Medicare Part B drug payments to prices in other nations.

That plan was blocked in court following a lawsuit from the pharmaceutical industry.

Trump’s revived strategy, previewed last week by NBC News and first reported by Politico, would again target pricing disparities between the US and countries such as Germany, the UK and Canada.

Health policy experts say the move could save Americans billions, though they caution about industry resistance.

“If this can do something about what is clearly an emergency…I’m for it,” said Arthur Caplan, head of the medical ethics division at NYU Langone Medical Center, according to NBC News.

“I don’t see an excuse for why prices should be all over the place, and we wind up getting charged the most,” Caplan said.

NBC News added that Stacie Dusetzina, a professor at Vanderbilt University, also expressed skepticism about the policy’s durability: “I am unsure the new executive order will fare any better” than the 2020 version.

Still, polling suggests public support.

A Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey found that over three-quarters of US adults consider drug prices unaffordable.

NBC News reported that Tricia Neuman, executive director of KFF’s Medicare policy program, said: “The idea of making sure the US pays no more than similar countries polls well but…will likely face fierce opposition from the pharmaceutical industry.”

Trump emphasized that his plan is aimed not only at fairness but at national savings.

“Our citizens’ Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before,” he said. “Additionally, on top of everything else, the United States will save TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.”