If “DOGE” Were Truly Seeking Efficiencies, It Would Recommend Drug Price Savings
Washington D.C. — On Thursday, Public Citizen sent a letter to the heads of the advisory committee branded as “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE”),” Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, contending that massive savings are available to taxpayers and consumers from tools to lower prescription drug prices through existing law and Medicare price negotiation and inflationary rebates.
Musk recently posted on X, “Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors super low cost to the public.”
The Public Citizen letter points out the government has the power to make this happen immediately, under existing law, by challenging drugmakers’ monopoly control and authorizing generic competition. The letter explains that the federal government could obtain dramatic savings by:
(1) Using existing federal authority to enable federal health programs to purchase generic versions of on-patent medicines, a move that could deliver billions in savings on anti-obesity medications, among others.
(2) Negotiating the prices of drugs more aggressively for Medicare enrollees, which is currently allowed by law, and expanding price negotiation and inflationary rebates to more drugs and more patients sooner through legislation.
Public Citizen Health Advocate Steve Knievel said a real effort to seek efficiency would strive to save the government and taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars by lowering the price of prescription drugs, instead of defunding healthcare programs.
“Reducing government spending should never come at the cost of patient health and safety,” said Knievel. “If DOGE were interested in improving government efficiency, it would be zeroing in on monopolistic drug pricing and government tools to stop Big Pharma’s rip-offs and promote access to essential medicines. Hundreds of billions in savings are there for the taking.”