President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that will dramatically reduce the prices for prescription drugs and other pharmaceuticals. The order will require pharmaceutical companies to sell their drugs in the U.S. at the same price as the lowest price offered in any other country.
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The action is a major change in American drug policy. Unlike most countries, the U.S. does not engage in price negotiation or impose price controls on pharmaceuticals, a policy that results in very high drug prices for American consumers. The executive order points out that
The United States has less than five percent of the world’s population and yet funds around three quarters of global pharmaceutical profits. This egregious imbalance is orchestrated through a purposeful scheme in which drug manufacturers deeply discount their products to access foreign markets, and subsidize that decrease through enormously high prices in the United States.
In a post on his Truth Social account, Donald Trump stated that the move would halt the de facto subsidization of foreign drugs by American consumers and allow Americans access to drugs at a fair price. “Our Country will finally be treated fairly, and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before,” the president wrote.
