United States: Donald Trump, the president, resurrected a proposal on Monday that would see the cost of prescription medicines in the US tied to what other countries pay for the same medicines.
His executive order, nonetheless, leaves a lot of questions on how the administration will apply a so-called “most-favored nation” policy, politico.com reported.
Global Benchmarking for Drug Prices Revived
According to Trump, addressing a press conference on Monday, “For years, pharmaceutical and drug companies have said research and development costs were what they are.”
“And for no reason whatsoever, they had to be borne by America alone. Not anymore, they don’t,” he added.
In a month, the federal health department should communicate most-favored-nation price targets to drug-makers — a measure, the White House claims, that should bring the cost of medicine for Americans closer to “comparably developed nations”.
Executive Order Raises Questions
If that is not done, Trump has ordered Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to issue regulations to make way for most-favored nations (MFN) pricing.
Trump on Monday published on Truth Social that drug costs will reduce by 59 percent, a day after he published on social media that “the US will pay the same amount as the nation with the lowest prices anywhere in the world.”
At his press conference, Trump made it clear that the price would be based on what other rich nations pay, politico.com reported.
“Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%,” Trump stated.
Furthermore, “They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”
The Congressional Budget Office calculated last October that deregulating drug prices so that the drug makers would only be able to charge as much as people in other countries pay will reduce average drug costs by more than five percent.
“Big Pharma will either abide by this principle voluntarily, or we will use the power of the federal government to ensure we are paying the same price as other countries,” Trump stated.
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