President Donald Trump He is trying to crack down on prescription drug prices in accordance with a new executive order he signed on Tuesday.
The order directed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) Standardizes Medicare payments for prescription drugs (including medications for cancer patients) regardless of where the patient is treated. This could reduce the price of patients by up to 60%, according to the White House fact sheet.
Likewise, the White House said the order also requires that Medicare payments for certain prescription drugs match the prices hospitals pay for those drugs — 35% less than the government’s cost of buying them.
The order also takes steps to reduce insulin prices. Specifically, the order requires lowering insulin prices or uninsured insulin prices in low-income patients as low as three points, and injectable adrenaline can treat allergic reactions to $15, plus a “small administrative fee.”
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The order directs Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) to standardize health insurance payments for prescription drugs. (Istock/Getty)
The order also seeks to lower drug prices in states through “promoting import programs that can save states’ prescription drug prices” and strengthens programs that assist states in obtaining sickle cell drugs in Medicaid.
The order also requires the Department of Homeland Security to seek comment on the Medicare drug price negotiation program, which authorized the Biden government under the Inflation Reduction Act and allows Medicare to conduct bulk prescription prices directly with drug companies.
“The guidance should increase transparency in Medicare drug negotiation plans, prioritize the choice of prescription drugs for Medicare plans with high cost and minimize any negative impact of the highest fair price in the U.S. on drug innovation in the U.S.,” the order said.
Drug prices have risen sharply in recent years. Prices of prescription drugs rose by more than 15% between January 2022 and January 2023, with an average price of $590 per drug, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 4200 prescription drugs included in this list, 46% of the price increase exceeded inflation.
Trump’s first administration’s efforts to limit the price of prescription drugs include a cap on the Medicaid prescription drug program that installs insulin on $35.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Tom Brenner via Getty Images in The Washington Post)
Meanwhile, Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese imports could mean that health care costs are particularly prone to rising. The market research team found that 84% of experts predicted that prices for medical and drug will rise based on tariffs.
In addition, Trump said on Monday that tariffs on drugs drove down the pipeline.
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“We no longer produce our own drugs,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “Pharmaceutical companies are in Ireland, they are in many other places, China.”
Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday, along with others trying to prevent illegal immigrants from getting social security benefits, another called for an investigation into the impact of imported processed minerals on national security.
Tuesday’s executive order comes after the Department of Health and Human Services Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services told states a few days after Thursday that the federal government will stop aid to fund things like nutrition for Medicaid personnel.
Alec Schemmel of Fox News contributed to the report.
