US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he will sign an executive order to reduce prescription drug prices by aligning them with the lower rates paid by other high-income countries—figures he said range from 30% to 80% less than current US prices.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump said the order, which he plans to sign Monday morning, would implement a “most favoured nation” pricing policy. This approach, also known as international reference pricing, aims to ensure the United States pays no more than the country securing the lowest global price for a particular medication.
“The United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote, adding, “They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”
The United States currently pays the highest prices globally for many prescription medications, often nearly three times what other developed nations pay. While Trump has long criticised this discrepancy, he did not outline specific implementation details in his post.
According to four pharmaceutical industry lobbyists briefed by the White House, the executive order is expected to target the Medicare health insurance programme and may go beyond the drugs already slated for price negotiations under former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. That law enabled Medicare to negotiate prices for 10 high-cost drugs, with those rates set to take effect next year and additional drugs to follow later in 2025.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the top US lobbying group for drugmakers, has voiced strong opposition to the proposal. “Government price setting in any form is bad for American patients,” said spokesperson Alex Schriver in response to Trump’s announcement.
This is not Trump’s first attempt to implement international drug pricing standards. During his first term, a similar proposal was blocked by a court. At the time, his administration estimated that the plan could save American taxpayers over $85 billion across seven years, from the nation’s more than $400 billion in annual drug spending.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
Follow us on:
