Former President Donald Trump says he plans to sign an executive order aimed at lowering the cost of certain prescription drugs, revisiting a failed policy initiative from his first term. The move would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt a “most favored nation” pricing strategy — tying the cost of some Medicare-covered medications to the lowest prices paid by other wealthy nations.
Trump announced the plan on his social media platform, promising the U.S. would “pay the same price as the nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the world.” He claimed the order would significantly reduce healthcare costs for Americans, although his suggestion that the savings would amount to “trillions of dollars” appears to be an overstatement.
This policy would primarily affect medications covered under Medicare Part B, which includes drugs administered in doctors’ offices, such as cancer treatments and other injectables. These drugs cost Medicare over $33 billion in 2021, and a previous government report found that the U.S. often pays twice as much as other countries for them.
While this proposal could lead to lower drug costs for the government and some patients, it is likely to face strong resistance from the pharmaceutical industry. Drugmakers have long argued that lower prices would undermine their ability to fund research and innovation. They also say that linking U.S. prices to foreign markets gives other governments too much influence over American healthcare policy.
Trump had introduced a similar plan late in his presidency, but it was blocked in court and never took effect under the Biden administration. He has frequently criticized pharmaceutical companies for high prices and accused them of exploiting American consumers, saying foreign nations benefit from cheaper prices because the U.S. carries a disproportionate share of research and development costs.
The proposed order wouldn’t apply to most everyday prescriptions filled at pharmacies, focusing instead on high-cost drugs used during medical visits. For many seniors on traditional Medicare, these treatments can come with high out-of-pocket expenses, since there’s no cap on annual costs.
Trump framed the move as a long-overdue correction to an unfair system and took aim at drug companies’ political influence, insisting he would not be swayed by their lobbying or campaign donations. He described the upcoming order as a bold step toward fairness in drug pricing.