Trump Proposes to Cut Drug Prices by Allowing Companies to Charge More

I am shocked that Trump is breaking this campaign promise. Who would ever have guessed? So what will he be proposing?

“The administration will, as expected, put pressure on foreign countries to relax drug price controls, in the belief that pharmaceutical companies can then lower prices in the United States.”

So Trump is proposing to increase drug prices overseas and then do nothing to leverage this into lower prices here. Sounds great! I can hardly wait for this novel approach to slash my prescription bill

More fodder for Dems as drug prices continue to rise

Trump breaks key campaign promise on Medicare

When it comes time to negotiate the cost of drugs, we are going to negotiate like crazy,” Trump told a crowd in Exeter, New Hampshire in February 2016. “The drug companies probably have the second or third most powerful lobby in this country. They get the politicians, and every single one of them is getting money from them.”

One of the largest donors to Trump’s re-election campaign is CVS Health Corp, which has a financial interest in keeping the government away from drug price negotiations. Health companies spent millions to contribute to Trump’s inauguration committee.

“You go see this, lobbyists, almost guarantee they produce, with me, won’t happen folks,” Trump told voters in Lacrosse, Wisconsin in April 2016. “With me, pharmaceuticals, you know there’s a bad bidding process on pharmaceuticals. There’s a bad bidding process for everything.”

The Trump administration’s proposals have mirrored those of the pharma lobby.

In the end, it’s all about the bottom line. Trump’s tough campaign talk affected the profits of pharmaceutical companies less than his actions did. In Trump’s first year as president, biotech stocks rose about 41 percent — well above the 23 percent rise in the S&P index.