Last Friday, President Trump unveiled his blueprint to lower drug prices named American Patients First. Sadly, the Administration’s plan excludes Trump’s campaign promises to use the massive buying power of the government’s Medicare program to negotiate lower prices for older Americans and provide greater access to imported, lower-cost medications.The stock markets gave drug companies a big boost after the speech and pharma shareholders a big sigh of relief that drug prices would not be coming down anytime soon.
On the margins, Trump’s proposals might yield small improvements on drug prices, including some savings in Medicare and lower co-payment, but the proof is in the follow through. Overall, President Trump’s plan is yet another giveaway to the pharmaceutical industry and falls far short of what is needed to end the crisis of high drug prices.
Here are some links to comprehensive analyses of President Trump’s, American Patients First proposal:
