"It’s time to end the global freeloading once and for all."
President Donald J. Trump

PUTTING AMERICAN PATIENTS FIRST: Today, President Donald J. Trump is launching actions to confront global freeloading and lower drug prices for American patients.

In order to confront global freeloading, President Trump is putting forth a new way for Medicare to pay for certain drugs that is based on prices other developed nations pay.
The President’s initiative is projected to reduce Medicare’s payments for these drugs by an incredible 30 percent over the next five years.
The President is also putting forward a plan to fix to the perverse incentive that encourages doctors to administer more expensive drugs, raising costs for taxpayers and seniors.
Under President Trump’s initiative, doctors would receive the same reimbursement for similar drugs, eliminating an incentive to administer higher-cost drugs.

CHALLENGING FOREIGN FREELOADING: American patients and taxpayers unfairly subsidize worldwide drug innovation and effectively foot the bill for lower drug prices in foreign countries.

Foreign countries currently get much lower prices from drug makers, putting the burden on American patients to subsidize these discounts by forcing higher prices on the United States.
Nearly every developed country engages in this unfair practice, yet past administrations simply looked the other way.
Some have even threatened American patents to secure these cheap prices.
Medicare has shouldered outrageously high prices compared to other countries.
Manufacturers charge American wholesalers almost double what is charged in other countries for the most common Medicare Part B drugs.
One medication that helps prevent blindness costs Medicare over $1 billion a year, but it would cost just $187 million a year if we paid prices other countries pay.
Medicare pays over $1 billion a year for two drugs that treat bone disease, but we could save more than $800 million by paying the prices others countries pay.

DRIVING DOWN DRUG PRICES: The announcement is the latest bold action in President Trump’s unprecedented effort to lower prescription drug prices.

Americans are already seeing real results thanks to President Trump’s efforts. In the 100 days following the release of the President’s sweeping blueprint to lower drug costs:
There were 60 percent fewer brand-drug price increases and 54 percent more generic and brand-drug price decreases, compared to the same time period in 2017.
More than a dozen drug companies reduced their list prices, rolled back planned price increases, or froze their prices for the rest of the year.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set a new record for generic approvals last year, approving more than 1,000 generics that will bring an estimated $9 billion in savings in 2018.
FDA continued this trend by setting another generic approval record in 2018.
The President signed legislation to end unfair gag clauses, which prevented pharmacists from telling patients when they could pay less out of pocket rather than using insurance.
The Trump Administration made reforms to stop hospitals from abusing the 340B program by overcharging seniors for their drugs, saving seniors $320 million just this year.
The Administration has helped 45 million seniors on Medicare Part D and 20 million seniors on Medicare Advantage by giving those programs new tools to negotiate lower prices.   back...