Pfizer agrees to offer discounted drugs through new federal website, Trump announces | US healthcare

Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Pfizer, the prescription drug manufacturer, agreed to offer drugs at “highly reduced prices” via a website operated by the federal government.

The company has also agreed to offer all drugs in Medicaid, the public health insurance plan for low-income and others, to “the most favored” pricing, which means linking the cost of drugs to the United States at the lowest price paid elsewhere.

“It will have a huge impact on reducing Medicaid costs as nothing else,” said Trump at a press conference with the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, and Robert F Kennedy Jr, the Secretary of the United States of Health.

The announcement comes after the president has accused for years the high price of drugs to pharmaceutical companies and has committed to reducing these costs. In the United States, medication prices were almost three times higher than those of 33 other countries in 2022, according to a study by the Rand Corporation.

And this comes while the government is on the verge of closing, the Democrats pointing their fingers on the Republicans for having approved deep cuts on the Medicaid program and other health safety nets. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill supported by Trump would lead to 16 million people not insured by 2034.

Trump on Tuesday announced that drugs at reduced prices will be available via Trumprx.com, which does not seem to be live yet. “Prescription drugs with Huge discounts Will be available on Trumprx, ”read a shared sign on X by Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary of the White House.

The president also said that the administration worked with other pharmaceutical companies to obtain similar agreements.

Bourla, like Trump, said that other countries had not paid their “just part for medical innovation.” And therefore, the Americans had to assume disproportionate costs on their shoulders ”.

“The big winner will clearly be American patients, there is no doubt,” said Bourla. “They will see a significant impact on their ability to buy medication.”

But many Americans are concerned about the increase in health care costs after entering into force of the provisions of the expenditure bill.