WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump said he will sign an executive order that institutes a “most favored nation” policy for drug pricing, reviving a plan from his first term that he said will reduce prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices “almost immediately, by 30% to 80%.”
The order, which Trump plans to sign at 9 a.m. ET on May 12, is expected to direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to adopt the policy, which would set prescription drug prices to match those of comparable countries.
Full details of the order, which drew immediate resistance from the pharmaceutical industry, were unclear, including which insurance programs and drugs would fall under the initiative. During his first term, Trump in 2020 pushed a “most favored nation” rule that would have applied to Medicare payments but was later rescinded by the Biden administration.
“I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World,” Trump said in a May 11 post on Truth Social. “Our Country will finally be treated fairly, and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before.”
Drug prices in the United States are nearly three times higher than 33 comparison countries, according to a 2024 report from the Health and Human Services department. About 67 million Americans are enrolled in Medicare.
Trump’s plan to sign the drug price order was first reported last week by Politico, which said Trump planned to pursue the policy for certain drugs within the Medicare program.
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‘Government price setting in any form is bad for American patients’
Drugmakers expect the order to apply to a universe of drugs beyond the 10 subject to Medicare’s negotiated prices under Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The lowered prices from the Biden-era law are set to go into effect in 2026.
Critics of the “most favored nation” concept argue that drug companies could game the system by securing deals with foreign governments for rebates to maintain current drug pricing in the United States. Others say it could stifle innovation in medicine if the pharmaceutical industry loses profits.
“Government price setting in any form is bad for American patients,” Alex Schriver, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the top lobbying arm of the drug industry, said in a statement when asked about Trump’s planned executive order.
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Trump has teased the drug pricing announcement for days, hinting at a “very big announcement” before he departs May 12 for a trip to the Middle East with stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. “As big as it gets,” he said.
Shortly before announcing his plans to sign the executive order, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “My next TRUTH will be one of the most important and impactful I have ever issued.”
Contributing: Reuters. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump to sign executive order seeking to reduce drug prices
