Trump admin announces historic deal to slash Medicaid prices

The Trump administration has secured a first-of-its-kind deal with Pfizer to provide Medicaid recipients with prescription drugs at “most-favored-nation” pricing, a first step in addressing pharmaceutical “price gouging” for Americans. 

“Today, Pfizer is committing to offer all of their prescription medications to Medicaid, and it will be at the most favored nation’s prices,” President Donald Trump said at a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s going to have a huge impact on bringing Medicaid costs down like nothing else.”

The deal with Pfizer marks a “bold step” marking the end of “the era of global price gouging at the expense of American families,” Trump said. For decades, Americans have paid the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs – often 10 to 15 times higher than other countries “for the exact same product,” Trump said.

“That’s why my administration has also taken historic action to investigate the unfair and discriminatory trade practices of other countries that extort our pharmaceutical makers to shift costs onto the American consumer,” he said. “The United States is done subsidizing the health care of the rest of the world.”

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy shared that his “very liberal Democrat” son thanked him, saying he was very proud.

“This is something Democrats have wanted for 20 years. Republicans have wanted for 20 years,” Kennedy said. “Everybody said they’re going to do it. Nobody has even taken a step towards doing it, and the reason was because it was such a daunting task.”

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz said his Republican son did likewise.

“‘Thank you for making us proud,’ because it’s not just a Democratic problem, it’s a Republican problem,” Oz said, quoting his son.

Through international pressure and deals, the Trump administration has now secured fair prices for Americans for these drugs at nearly 15,000% reductions, in some cases, Trump said.

“What he called for was fairness, and that’s a powerful principle, because we all grow up wanting to be on the right side of fair,” Director of Medicare Chris Klomp said. “It allowed us to do what has not been done before, which is to call on manufacturers and ask them to be fair. It allows us to go to countries and ask them to pay their fair share in the battle against global disease.”

Klomp explained the details and strategy of the negotiations, spearheaded by Trump. He said the administration compared prices for the same drug internationally and negotiated to guarantee these fair prices for Americans.

“It’s not platitudes. It’s not lacking a plan,” Klomp said. “These are hard contracts with teeth, lowering prices… These are the most significant historical, substantive, mathematically quantified price reductions in the history of our country and modern-day pharmaceuticals.”

Trump prioritized the “most vulnerable” in America by focusing on Medicaid pharmaceuticals first, Klomp said. The prices displayed at the press conference represent “net costs” – meaning the actual prices Americans will pay, factoring in rebate costs or additional expenses, Klomp said.

Klomp said a new website, TrumpRX, will launch, excluding any middleman, and offering the substantially reduced drug prices.

Trump also said Pfizer has pledged $70 billion in investments to fund domestic research and developments in the U.S. He promised future pharmaceutical companies, in addition to Pfizer, will join this strategy in the coming months.

“This is real leadership. It takes a president, who has a vision and makes that vision happen,” Kennedy said. “And I can’t think of any other president of the United States who could have done this in our history.”