Will Trump Pitch Sweeping Medicare Part D Prescription Price Plan?

By Mary Helen Gillespie

President Donald Trump plans to revive an effort to dramatically slash Medicare drug costs by tying the amount the government pays for some medicines to lower prices abroad, three people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.

Trump early next week is expected to sign an executive order directing aides to pursue the initiative, called “most favored nation,” for a selection of drugs within the Medicare program. The idea would use the administration’s authorities to force prices down.

The proposal has not been finalized and could still change as aides work through the specifics, said the people involved in the plan, who were granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations. Trump has not yet personally approved the plan.

The president on Tuesday teased a “very big announcement” within the next week that one of the people familiar characterized as a reference to the drug pricing proposal. The other two did not know whether it was a big announcement but confirmed the Medicare drug price plan was likely to be announced within the next week.

“We’re going to have a very, very big announcement to make — like as big as it gets,” Trump said. “It will be one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject.”

Should Trump go ahead with the order, it would represent a major confrontation between the White House and the deep-pocketed pharmaceutical industry.

Trump announced plans for a similar initiative in 2018, but it failed to gain traction in the face of sharp resistance from the drug industry. He later tried to push the policy through in the final months of his first term. But a judge halted the effort after determining the administration failed to follow the proper processes for implementing it, and the incoming Biden administration opted to rescind the policy.

The new effort, if finalized, would likely once again draw massive opposition from a drug industry that has warned the idea would decimate companies’ ability to develop new drugs. It could also trigger fresh legal challenges.