In November 2024, Americans sent a clear election message and delivered President Donald Trump a clear mandate: Prices are way too high. While inflation has hit our grocery stores (up by 23.6 percent since 2020) and housing costs (up by 30.9 percent since 2020), there’s another cost outpacing the rest when it comes to price hikes. Prescription drugs have jumped by 46.2 percent since 2020, forcing Americans to pay the highest price in the world for life-saving medications. No wonder citizens are angry.
In 2022, Congress passed legislation that gave the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) the authority to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries for the first time. As this administration targets cost-saving measures across government, this program is projected to save billions of dollars, with an estimated $1.5 billion in savings for seniors next year alone and $100 billion in total taxpayer savings over 10 years.
Thankfully, Trump knows how to negotiate. With his leadership, Medicare negotiation could be just the start of a larger effort to earn a better deal for Americans on prescription drugs. This issue presents an enormous opportunity for the president to bolster his legacy by protecting and expanding the government’s ability to crack down on corrupt lobbyists and special interests and allow the government to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers to lower prescription drug prices for the American people.
This issue is not new to Trump, who has long railed against the corruption and greed in the pharmaceutical industry. He recognizes that “we pay, as a country, so much more for drugs because of the drug lobbies,” whom he says are “getting away with murder.” Trump’s solution?
“Tougher negotiation [and] more competition [will lead to] much lower prices,” he said.
As one of the early voices calling for Medicare to negotiate drug prices back in 2016, this is Trump’s moment to make this promise into reality.
Now that he’s back in the White House, he can reaffirm his commitment to reducing costs for seniors and cutting government spending, two of his biggest priorities. Consistent with his clear mission to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, he has already begun to implement this cost-saving plan by supporting and defending Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug prices.
If the drug lobby is successful in fighting against Trump by rolling back Medicare’s negotiation authority, the biggest winners would be—you guessed it—pharmaceutical companies, which would return to charging inflated prices, forcing both the government and everyday Americans to bear the cost, increasing prices of prescription drugs by a shocking 46.2 percent—effectively doubling their cost.
Trump has long been a vocal critic of big pharma. His leadership can yet again make him the strongest voice ever in holding the industry accountable. Backing policies that rein in drug prices would be a major victory not just for his administration but for every American family.
I know Trump will continue to fight for the American people because he understands that Americans should never be taken advantage of by the drug lobby. This is his chance to do it big by standing up to big pharma and ensuring that drug prices come down. That’s a deal that every American can get behind.
