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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Friday an agreement with nine of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to drastically reduce drug prices under the new "Most Favored Nation Pricing" scheme.
"I am delighted to be joined by the leaders of nine of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world to announce that they have agreed to offer many of their flagship medications at most favored nation prices with significant discounts," Trump stated during an event at the White House.
"The companies gathered in this room have agreed to offer all their medications to Medicaid at Most Favored Nation prices… and they will publish their most popular drugs on TrumpRX.gov," he added.
The leader described the announcement as “the greatest victory for patient affordability in the history of American healthcare,” a designation given to Obamacare, through which 30 million people have accessed health benefits with low-cost insurance.
He confirmed that his administration is determined to break the price monopoly of pharmaceutical companies and insurers, which for decades —he said— “have abused the system.”
"I am going to call a meeting of the major insurance companies that have profited so much... and I will see if they can lower their prices, to put it very clearly," he noted.
According to the White House, the agreement signed with pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Amgen, Novartis, Merck, Sanofi, and Bristol Myers Squibb stipulates that their most in-demand medications will be available at discounts of up to 70% for Medicaid beneficiaries and public health programs.
In addition, the government will launch the website TrumpRX.gov —currently in the testing phase— where patients will be able to check prices and access discounts directly, without intermediaries.
Trump assured that this measure "puts an end to the abuses of insurance companies and the bureaucracy of Obamacare," while promising to return "the decision-making power to the American people."
Trump's announcement comes after a legislative crisis in Congress, where Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on the renewal of federal subsidies for Obamacare, the health insurance program created during Barack Obama's presidency that currently covers more than 30 million people.
The confrontation coincided with the open enrollment period for health insurance, which created uncertainty among consumers who rely on subsidies to maintain their policies.
While the Democrats accuse the White House of "dismantling the public healthcare system," the Republican wing argues that Obamacare is "unsustainable" and has benefited insurers more than citizens.
The new health policy could become one of the central components of Trump’s economic agenda for 2026, alongside tax cuts and the boost to the national pharmaceutical industry.
However, it is not clear how it would benefit the majority who are ineligible for Medicaid.
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