President Donald Trump touted his record of lowering the costs of prescription drugs for Americans by delivering the “most favored nation” (MFN) pricing policy through a series of deals with pharmaceutical companies, in his latest interview with the Washington Reporter. As part of this accomplishment, he noted that “we’re going to bring [prices of drugs] down 500, 600, 700 percent.”
For years, progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) tried to push MFN through far-reaching legislation that Republicans pointed out would have negative consequences like taking away cancer drugs for seniors.
Earlier this year, Trump showed Congress how this could be done with tailored executive action and dealmaking, and he celebrated his success in lowering prices. “It’s the biggest thing anyone has ever heard of. And it’s done. It just has to set in. And Europe has agreed to it because we said otherwise, we’ll charge you tariffs.”
Trump gave the Reporter an example of the success of his policy, saying in the interview that , “we’re taking a pill that costs $130 [today] down to about $30. And Europe’s costs are going up by nearly $30. So they’ll be at $30 and we’ll be at $30.”
Trump could have pointed to more than a dozen examples of drug companies announcing lower drug costs because of the president’s MFN accomplishment, including Genentech, AbbVie, GlaxoSmithKline,, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly.
A Senate source told the Reporter: “credit where due to President Trump. Most of Congress thought that MFN couldn’t get done, and President Trump proved them wrong by delivering lower drug costs in a smart way. He delivered it and it’s a real accomplishment. It’s now Congress’s turn to focus on the big insurers and PBMs that are causing healthcare costs to skyrocket.”
Trump’s celebration of lower drug costs through tough negotiations with industry came just hours before he flew to Europe to meet with world leaders at Davos.
It also comes amid a broader push by the president and by House and Senate Republicans to lower the costs of everything from energy to housing and more, the president underscored in the interview.