WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has announced he will sign “one of the most consequential executive orders” in the country’s history on Monday at 9 am (local time) which aims to lower prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices almost immediately by 30 per cent to 80 per cent in the US and will increase worldwide to equalise and bring “fairness” to the US for the first time in many years.
Trump made the announcement in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. He said he would implement a “most favoured nation’s policy,” whereby the US would pay the same price as the nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the world.
In a post shared on Truth Social, Trump stated, “For many years the World has wondered why Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceuticals in the United States States of America were SO MUCH HIGHER IN PRICE THAN THEY WERE IN ANY OTHER NATION, SOMETIMES BEING FIVE TO TEN TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THE SAME DRUG, MANUFACTURED IN THE EXACT SAME LABORATORY OR PLANT, BY THE SAME COMPANY??? It was always difficult to explain and very embarrassing because, in fact, there was no correct or rightful answer. 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. Campaign Contributions can do wonders, but not with me, and not with the Republican Party.”
“We are going to do the right thing, something that the Democrats have fought for many years. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that Tomorrow morning, in the White House, at 9:00 A.M., I will be signing one of the most consequential Executive Orders in our Country’s history. Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%. They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA! I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World. Our Country will finally be treated fairly, and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before. Additionally, on top of everything else, the United States will save TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” he added.
Earlier in April, Trump signed another executive order to standardise medicare payments for prescription drugs, including those for receiving treatment for cancer, irrespective of the place where the patient is undergoing treatment. At the time, the White House in a fact sheet said that the order could reduce prices for patients by as much as 60 per cent, Fox News reported.
The White House said the order calls for matching the medical payment for certain prescription drugs to the price that hospitals pay for those drugs, up to 35 per cent less than what the government pays to acquire those medicines.
According to a White House fact sheet, the order takes measures to reduce insulin prices. The order, particularly, calls for reducing insulin prices for low-income patients or those who are uninsured to as lower as 3 cents and injectable epinephrine for treating allergic reactions to as low as $15, coupled with a “small administrative fee.”
In addition, the order tries to reduce drug prices in the US by “facilitating importation programs that could save states millions in prescription drug prices” and bolstering programs that assist states in securing deals on sickle-cell medications in Medicaid, according to the White House fact sheet.
The order requires Health and Human Services to seek comment on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, which the Biden administration approved under the Inflation Reduction Act and permits Medicare to directly engage in hashing out prescription prices with drug firms, Fox News reported.
In recent years, drug prices have increased significantly. Between January 2022 and January 2023, prescription drug prices increased by over 15 per cent and reached an average of $590 per drug product, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. (ANI)
