Trump Gives Drugmakers 60 Days To Slash Prescription Drug Prices

President Donald Trump sent letters to much than a twelve awesome drugmakers Thursday demanding that they little nan costs of medicine narcotics successful nan U.S. wrong 60 days.

In nan letters — which Trump published connected his societal media level Truth Social — nan drugmakers were told to connection nan “full portfolio” of their existing medications to Medicaid patients astatine nan aforesaid prices paid abroad, also known arsenic nan “most favored nation” rule.

He besides told drugmakers to “guarantee” that patients connected Medicare, Medicaid and backstage security get nan aforesaid little prices that are paid overseas for each recently approved narcotics “both upon motorboat and moving forward.”

He besides demanded that drugmakers return immoderate further revenues earned overseas to U.S. taxpayers, and create a “direct to consumer” action for definite medications that would besides beryllium offered astatine little prices.

”Make nary mistake: a collaborative effort towards achieving world pricing parity would beryllium nan astir effective way for companies, nan government, and American patients,” Trump wrote successful nan letters. ”But if you garbage to measurement up, we will deploy each instrumentality successful our arsenal to protect American families from continued abusive supplier pricing practices.”

It’s unclear, experts say, whether Trump has nan authority to unit drugmakers to little nan costs of their medicine narcotics without nan thief of Congress.

What’s more, immoderate effort to do truthful is apt to beryllium met pinch fierce pushback from nan supplier industry.

“It whitethorn return much than a reliable missive from nan President to motivate nan pharmaceutical manufacture to driblet their prices,” said Tricia Neuman, executive head of nan programme connected Medicare argumentation astatine KFF, a nonpartisan wellness argumentation investigation group.

“The voluntary attack hasn’t worked truthful acold to thrust down supplier prices,” she added. “Drug prices thin to spell down erstwhile compelled by rule aliases successful consequence to competition.”

Trump has many times complained — during some position — that group successful nan U.S. salary acold much for medicine narcotics than group successful different countries.

Indeed, medicine supplier prices successful nan United States are notoriously precocious — up to 10 times much than successful different nations of akin size and wealth, according to nan Rand Corp., a nationalist argumentation deliberation tank.

More than 3 successful 4 adults successful nan U.S. opportunity nan costs of medications is unaffordable, according to a canvass from KFF.

In May, Trump signed an executive bid instructing national wellness officials to renew an effort to instrumentality nan “most favored nation” norm — a strategy he pursued unsuccessfully during his first term.

The 17 letters were sent Thursday to awesome drugmakers specified arsenic Eli Lilly, GSK, Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, Novo Nordisk and Novartis.

NBC News has reached retired to each 17 companies for comment.

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said nan institution “remains focused connected improving diligent entree and affordability, and we will proceed to activity to find solutions that thief group entree nan medicine they need.”

A spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson said nan institution was still reviewing nan letter, and referred NBC News to nan pharmaceutical industry’s apical lobbying group, PhRMA, for comment.

PhRMA did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The Trump management does person different instrumentality astatine its disposal to little nan costs of medicine drugs: Medicare supplier pricing negotiations.

Signed into rule by President Joe Biden done nan Inflation Reduction Act, nan proviso allows Medicare to discuss prices connected nan costliest medications.

The first information of negotiations is estimated to prevention Medicare $6 cardinal successful 2026, erstwhile nan prices are expected to spell into effect.