WASHINGTON — The White House is crowing over a 3.1% dip in prescription prices as evidence that President Trump’s pressure on drug companies is working — claiming Monday that it is the “steepest drop since 1963.”
Trump “promised to slash prescription drug prices — and he has delivered,” the White House said in a promotional email blast.
“New data confirms prescription drug prices just recorded their largest annual decline in more than 60 years, the steepest drop since 1963, as the Trump Administration’s landmark Most Favored Nation policies take hold.”
Over the past year, Trump strong-armed major drugmakers into reducing what they sought from government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid while establishing a new platform called “TrumpRx” that lists discounts for people without insurance who are paying out of pocket.
The populist president won concessions by threatening Big Pharma with massive tariffs if it didn’t move to align its prices with those paid by other major industrialized nations.
Trump frequently says Republicans should win the Nov. 5 midterm elections over the lower drug prices alone.
His threats to drug giants resulted in a parade of corporate executives traveling to the Oval Office for televised pledges to lower costs, along with specific offers to reduce cash bills, including high-profile cuts for GLP-1 drugs used for diabetes and weight loss such as Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as for the fertility drug Gonal-F.
Pfizer for one committed in September to offer “TrumpRx” discounts for a range of products, including a savings of 85% for the menopause pill Duavee, lowering costs to about $30. The mega-drug-maker also shaved 85% off the price of Tobias, which is used to treat overactive bladders, dropping costs to $42, and slashed 80% off the price of eczema ointment Eucrisia, to $162 per tube.
The drug giant agreed to cut 50% off the cost of migraine drug Zavzpret, to about $600 per month without insurance, too, and to give a $40% discount for rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz — bringing monthly costs to $3,644.
The Trump-brokered deals, which Congress is considering codifying, follow former President Joe Biden’s Medicare renegotiations for the top 10 most common drugs, which Axios reported may have contributed to the price declines. White House spokesman Kush Desai told the outlet that the notion is “idiotic and unfounded.”
Trump’s midterm sales pitch has focused heavily on his economic policies, including new tax cuts for senior citizens, people who earn tips, overtime wages and domestic car-loan interest — while pointing to a roaring stock market’s impact on retirement accounts.
He has argued that recent increases in gasoline prices and inflation tied to the Iran war are temporary.
Trump has meanwhile threatened to haul in “rich” health insurance CEOs next to force them to slim their own profits.
His team’s internal polling reportedly shows that hammering the industry could boost Republican candidates ahead of the congressional elections.
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