Trump’s Actions Offer Patients Nothing, Boost Big Drug Companies’ Profits, and Weaken Medicare Negotiation
Trump is all talk and no action when it comes to drug prices. It may be a New Year, but Americans are getting the same old, empty promises. Trump promised to bring down drug prices by 1,000 percent, yet his Big, Ugly Bill pads drug company profits and raises drug costs for thousands of seniors. Trump’s drug pricing executive order reads like a wishlist for Big Pharma, his drug price ‘deals’ boost drug company stocks, and TrumpRx fails to save the vast majority of Americans a single penny. Trump’s drug pricing announcements are shams engineered to distract the public from his abysmal record while he quietly undermines Medicare drug price negotiation – the only tool saving seniors money. Thanks to a law Democrats passed without a single Republican vote, seniors will save $1.5 billion out-of-pocket this year through negotiated prices on lifesaving drugs such as Eliquis, Xarelto, Jardiance and Farxiga and seniors will see even more savings over the next decade. Here is the truth behind Trump’s smoke and mirrors:
Trump Puts Drugmakers Above Everyday Americans at Every Opportunity:
- Trump spiked health care costs for over 20 million Americans and ripped health care away from 15 million Americans to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations such as Big Pharma.
- Trump entertained drug company CEOs at his Mar-a-Lago resort, solicited millions in donations, then spent the past year handsomely rewarding Big Pharma for their support.
- Trump helped big drug companies evade billions in taxes, escape tariffs, and exempt their top-selling products from drug price negotiations. Drug manufacturers received a huge return on their pay-to-play investments.
Trump Sold Out Seniors Fighting Cancer by Undermining Drug Price Negotiations:
- Trump handed Big Pharma their biggest victory in years by signing an $8.8 billion bailout designed to carve out top-selling products such as lifesaving cancer drugs Keytruda and Opdivo from Medicare drug price negotiation.
- “Thousands of Medicare recipients will have to wait longer to get some price relief on the expensive cancer drugs they depend on for treatment, while others might not get any reprieve at all,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Countless seniors will be forced to choose between putting food on the table and paying for the health care they need to survive, thanks to Trump.
Trump’s Drug Pricing ‘Deals’ Are No More Than a Publicity Stunt:
- “Discounts listed on Trump Rx are unlikely to benefit many people,” said Tradeoffs.
- “The deal will not directly benefit people on Medicaid because they already pay almost nothing in out-of-pocket costs,” according to the New York Times.
- “If this is all that President Trump does on drug pricing, it is likely a win for the pharmaceutical industry and should serve as a clearing event,” said industry analyst and former Trump administration health official Chris Meekins.
- Trump’s ‘deals’ may be more of a windfall to drug companies than previously thought. Drugmakers striking deals may be exempt from Medicare drug price demos.
Republicans Want to Raise Drug Costs. Democrats Are Fighting To Lower Them:
- Trump and Republicans in Congress want to hand big drug companies another win at the expense of seniors by delaying Medicare from negotiating lower prices for the small molecule drugs that make up 58 percent of the market. The Congressional Budget Office estimated this lobbying priority for Big Pharma would cost seniors and taxpayers $10 billion.
- If Republicans had their way, seniors would not have been able to expect savings on more than half of the drugs they will see lower, negotiated prices for in 2026 and 2027.
- Thanks to Democrats taking on Big Pharma, seniors on Medicare are saving:
- $1.5 billion this year, thanks to newly negotiated drug prices
- Hundreds on insulin, thanks to a $35 monthly out-of-pocket cap
- An average of $400 per year, thanks to a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap.
- Democrats are fighting to lower drug costs for everyone by protecting seniors’ savings and expanding them to everyone, regardless of where they get their health insurance. 92 percent of Americans support expanding these savings.