Trump’s Claimed Most-Favored Nation Savings are Unfounded
The administration must propose real solutions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House Council of Economic Advisers published an estimate of $529 billion in potential savings over 10 years from Trump’s most-favored nation drug pricing framework.
Public Citizen sued the Trump administration under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain its most-favored nation pricing agreements with drugmakers, which the White House continues to hold confidential. Reports indicate several of the agreements are not yet concluded.
Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Director Peter Maybarduk issued the following statement:
“The White House still has not released the text of its confidential deals with drug corporations, which makes assessing savings claims very difficult, and that is no accident. Even the very first deal the White House announced, with Pfizer, apparently has yet to be concluded. When talking to shareholders, under legal obligations to provide truthful information, drug corporations have not indicated anticipating any major impacts from the White House deals. Trump‘s ‘framework’ is far from becoming reality.
“The CEA estimate depends in part on congressional Republicans making permanent Trump’s MFN framework, for which they have shown no appetite. Indeed, they recently gave away $8 billion to drug corporations out of the pockets of cancer patients and taxpayers through their Big Ugly Bill.
“It also depends on coercing other countries into raising prices by an absurd amount. Drug prices are too high everywhere. Patients in other countries struggle with treatment rationing and rightly will fight like hell against price increases.”
“The CEA estimate also conveniently appears to omit costs associated with Trump’s plan, such as the tens of billions expected to be pulled from the Medicare Trust Fund to pay for Trump’s obesity drug pilot, known as Bridge.”
“The Trump Administration is right about one thing – Americans are getting ripped off by drug corporations. Now it’s time to get real about solutions.”