STAT+: Trump’s plans to lower drug prices have echoes of past efforts
The Trump administration has an expansive view for how it can lower drug prices for Americans. The question is whether this time will be different.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has an expansive view for how it can lower drug prices for Americans.
It has been here before. The question is whether this time will be different.
During his first term, President Trump tried to tie U.S. drug prices to those in other rich nations, but the Biden administration rescinded that “most favored nation” policy after a federal court stopped it from taking effect. A plan to overhaul how doctors buy and bill for drugs never got off of the ground. The same fate befell Trump’s plan to make insurers pass drug rebates directly to patients at the pharmacy counter. Similarly, the Supreme Court shot down a policy of significantly reducing Medicare payments to hospitals for administering drugs bought through a government discount program called 340B.
