President Donald Trump signed an government order on Monday aimed toward dramatically lowering prescription drug costs in america by aligning them with the decrease costs paid in different developed nations.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social his intention to signal an government order aimed toward lowering prescription drug costs in america by 30% to 80%.
He described this initiative as “some of the consequential Govt Orders in our Nation’s historical past.”
President Trump: For a few years the World has puzzled why Prescription Medication and Prescription drugs in america States of America have been 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 all the time troublesome to elucidate and really embarrassing as a result of, in actual fact, there was no right or rightful reply. The Pharmaceutical/Drug Corporations would say, for years, that it was Analysis and Growth Prices, and that every one of those prices have been, and can be, for no cause in anyway, borne by the “suckers” of America, ALONE.
Marketing campaign Contributions can do wonders, however not with me, and never with the Republican Occasion.
We’re going to do the best factor, one thing that the Democrats have fought for a few years. Due to this fact, I’m happy to announce that Tomorrow morning, within the White Home, at 9:00 A.M., I shall be signing some of the consequential Govt Orders in our Nation’s historical past. Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical costs shall be REDUCED, nearly instantly, by 30% to 80%.
They may rise all through the World with a view to equalize and, for the primary time in a few years, deliver FAIRNESS TO AMERICA! I shall be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby america pays the identical value because the Nation that pays the bottom value wherever within the World.
Our Nation will lastly be handled pretty, and our residents Healthcare Prices shall be decreased by numbers by no means even considered earlier than. Moreover, on prime of all the pieces else, america will save TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Thanks on your consideration to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
The manager order, signed on Monday, implements a “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) pricing coverage. This coverage mandates that america pays the identical value for prescribed drugs because the nation that pays the bottom value globally.
The initiative targets Medicare and Medicaid prices by aligning U.S. drug costs with these in different international locations, the place prices are usually a lot decrease.
“American sufferers have been successfully subsidizing socialist healthcare methods,” Trump stated in the course of the signing ceremony on the White Home, flanked by Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz.
“We’re going to chop out the middlemen and facilitate the direct sale of medication on the most favored nation value, on to the American citizen.”
Key Provisions of the Govt Order:
- 30-Day Deadline for Worth Reductions: Pharmaceutical corporations have 30 days to decrease their drug costs to align with worldwide charges. Failure to conform could lead to additional regulatory actions.
- Concentrating on Middlemen: The order criticizes pharmacy profit managers (PBMs) and firms like CVS and Cigna for inflating prices, resulting in a market response the place Cigna shares dropped practically 6% and CVS over 3%.
- Combating Anti-Aggressive Practices: The Federal Commerce Fee is urged to handle anti-competitive behaviors within the pharmaceutical sector.
Even some Democrats, reminiscent of Rep. Ro Khanna of California, have expressed approval for Trump’s plan. Khanna posted on X that he would introduce the chief order as written to grow to be laws and requested for Republican co-sponsors.
I’m prepared to introduce @realDonaldTrump EO precisely as written as laws to be bipartisan & get one thing achieved for the American folks. Any Republicans prepared to co-sponsor? Let’s then get Speaker Johnson to name a vote on it. https://t.co/9wsGDmCYjB
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) May 12, 2025
However not everyone seems to be on board with placing America first.
In accordance with senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio of Punchbowl Information, Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-SD) has signaled that whereas Trump’s intentions are clear, codifying the chief order into regulation may be “pretty controversial” in Congress.
Desiderio wrote, “Thune says Trump’s EO on prescription drug pricing can be “pretty controversial” if achieved legislatively. “He clearly desires to decrease drug costs. It’s one thing that, like quite a lot of different points, he’s had a ardour about and believed in for a very long time. So he’s appearing on that.””
He added, “Thune and different [Republican] leaders have lengthy opposed price-fixing efforts for prescribed drugs.”
Thune and different R leaders have lengthy opposed price-fixing efforts for prescribed drugs
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) May 12, 2025
Republican strategist and CNN contributor Shermichael Singleton weighed in on the new report.
“I assume Senator John Thune doesn’t have working-class folks in his state? Perhaps if Congress, which Republicans management, really did their rattling job, the president wouldn’t need to take government motion to look out for hardworking Individuals getting ripped off by massive pharma.”
