President Donald Trump went ahead and did something pretty bold on Monday. He signed an executive order, you know, one of those fancy documents, that’s all about trying to bring down the prices of prescription drugs in the good ol’ U.S. of A. How exactly? Well, by linking the costs to the lower prices that other countries often negotiate for the same medications. Sounds like a plan, right? The order basically asks drug companies to be nice and lower their prices voluntarily within 30 days, so that America can pay the same amount as other wealthy nations do for similar meds. It’s like a “most favored nation” kinda policy. And hey, if these companies don’t play nice, the administration is ready to bring down the hammer with a bunch of regulatory options. Although, the details on that are a bit fuzzy at the moment.
During a little press conference on Monday morning, Trump made a big deal about this executive order. He called it “one of the most consequential executive orders in our country’s history.” High praise, right? Trump even went on to claim that this order is going to slash drug prices in the U.S. by a whopping 60, 70, 80, or even 90%! That’s a big promise. He said this move is all about making drug prices around the world more, you know, “equalized.” ‘Big Pharma’ better listen up, because Trump made it clear that they better get on board voluntarily, or else the government is going to come knocking to make sure America isn’t overpaying for meds. The White House folks mentioned that they’ll start chatting with these drug companies next month, and if things don’t go well, they might have to start making some official rules. How much power do they really have to do that? Good question.
Now, the administration is not playing favorites here. They’re not just focusing on one type of drug. Nope, they’re looking at all those expensive medications out there, and they might even throw in some weight loss drugs into the mix. Trump and his team are also planning to give these drug manufacturers some price targets to hit. And get this, they want the Department of Health and Human Services to set up a way for Americans to buy these drugs directly from the manufacturers who decide to lower their prices in the U.S. It’s all about cutting out the middlemen, right? Trump has always felt like the U.S. is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to drug prices, and he’s not holding back on saying it. During that press conference, he called out some drugs that are costing Americans way more than they should compared to other countries. Like, seriously, we’re talking about 10 times more for some meds in the U.S. compared to places like Australia and Sweden. Ouch.
But not everyone is on board with Trump’s plan. The pharmaceutical companies and the medical industry are pushing back, saying that lowering prices could mess with their ability to create new drugs. They’re worried that bringing in prices from other countries could be a real problem for patients and the economy. The head of a trade organization representing big pharma companies even said that this move could put jobs at risk and make the U.S. rely even more on China for new medicines. It’s a tough situation, for sure. The administration is trying to make sure that the cost of all this is shared among different countries. They’re saying that the money for research and development will still be there, but it’s time for other countries to chip in too. This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to tackle drug prices. Back in 2020, he took a swing at it with a similar policy, but ran into some roadblocks along the way. Let’s see if this new executive order can shake things up a bit.
