Posted on 05/19/2025 6:36:54 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Last week, President Donald Trump grabbed his Sharpie and signed an executive order to tackle the sky-high prescription drug prices in the U.S. The plan? A “Most Favored Nation” (MFN) pricing model that aligns U.S. drug costs with those of other countries.
Sound familiar? Trump tried this during his first term, but the courts rejected it, and Biden hit the 'undo' button.
Here’s the lowdown on why Trump is back at it, what’s at stake, and whether this bold move will stick.
Trump has promised cheaper drugs since his campaign days, alongside crowd-pleasers like building the wall and draining the swamp. Americans are fed up, paying nearly three times more for medications than people in other wealthy countries.
With the U.S. covering 75% of global pharma profits despite representing only 5% of the world’s population, Trump labels it as "subsidizing socialism abroad” while we get “gouged” at home.
Ouch.
This isn’t a new idea. Trump’s 2020 MFN rule for Medicare Part B drugs was blocked by courts for skipping proper steps and was canceled by Biden in 2021. The 2025 version is larger, covering Medicare, Medicaid, and possibly even private markets.
It tasks the Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Big Pharma skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., with setting price targets within 30 days. If there is noncompliance, HHS will increase pressure with MFN pricing or “aggressive measures,” a variant of Trump’s FAFO policy.
Additionally, there is discussion about direct-to-consumer drug purchases, increased drug importation, and addressing unscrupulous industry practices.
Why now? Polls indicate that 74% of Americans cannot afford their medications, and Trump faces pressure to reduce inflation and health care costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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The USA is 4.2% of the world’s population but pays 75% of total global drug costs.
How did that happen?
I remember when people were getting their prescriptions filled, they were going through other countries like Canada if I recall correctly and saving significantly.
“The USA is 4.2% of the world’s population but pays 75% of total global drug costs. How did that happen?”
The drugs have patents, so other countries threaten to steal the patents and make the drugs themselves...hence the drug companies price the drugs to be able to make a small profit, but undercut potential competitors. In the US they have patent protection, so much more room for setting prices.
At least that’s how it was explained to me.
So American citizens get to pay for protecting Big Pharma's patents.
Why does Congress forbid me to buy prescription drugs from Canada and Mexico?
This really needs to be addressed. My military pharmacy is currently out of the certain miligrams that was prescribed to me for a condition I suffer from. So I called an off base pharmacy. They quoted me $980.00.
I was shocked. This is what our seniors have to deal with. It is unacceptable when we are giving millions of tax dollars to those who have invaded our Republic. Big pharma makes $$$$ in profit. We fund them for research and they run to the bank with profit. It has to stop!
$980 is unconscionable. What are you taking? And how much does your insurance pay?
My daughter needs a prescription for her Psoriatic arthritis that costs $4,000 per month. She was on her husband’s medical plane and they paid for it. When he died, she was faced with that horrible bill. Her insurance paid for some of that but left her with $1,000 per month.
We have a medicare insurance advisor here. Found a way that she didn’t need to pay for it at all.
Suggest you find a Medicare Advisor. Where do you live? Our advisor covers Washington and Idaho. I had to change plans to get Corneal Transplant covered. $20,000 but Humana pays for it this year. They won’t next year.
Does “affordability” mean using price controls to take-back the benefit of the patents that induced the drug companies to develop the drugs?
The article provides a link to Trump’s exec order.
Find out for yourself.
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