The Trump administration just inked deals with nine more pharmaceutical companies that agreed to offer Medicaid the same low prices that foreign countries pay. In exchange, President Donald Trump promised to spare these manufacturers from tariffs.
So far, the president has struck these voluntary agreements with 26 drugmakers in total. And he has loudly touted these deals, often jointly announcing them with biotech CEOs during White House ceremonies.
That’s smart politics. Nearly half the population struggles to afford healthcare, so it makes perfect sense to highlight efforts to reduce drug prices before the midterm elections.
But while those wins have garnered significant public attention, the administration’s other drug pricing reforms have received far less recognition — even though they could have a much greater positive impact on patients and workers. Republicans would be wise to campaign on those efforts, too.
Consider the administration’s efforts to combat foreign free-riding.
For years, other wealthy nations have imposed price controls on medicines invented in American labs by American scientists. As a result, foreigners pay artificially low prices — and force Americans to foot the bill for the research and development that benefits the whole world. Trump has rightly noted that Americans make up less than 5% of the global population but contribute about 75% of the global pharmaceutical profits.
This foreign free-riding doesn’t just lead to higher prices in the United States. Over time, it can also mean fewer new medicines for patients everywhere. One analysis estimates that if Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan paid American-level prices for cutting-edge medicines, scientists would have enough funding to develop 12 additional new drugs each year.
The Trump administration is working hard to fix this imbalance.
Trump already struck a deal with the U.K., which was finalized this spring. In exchange for an exemption from certain tariffs, the British government agreed to double its spending on new drugs as a share of GDP. That will mean more revenue for American companies, more jobs for their workers, and ultimately more research spending that leads to new breakthroughs.
He’s now using the same strategy to force other trading partners into similar concessions.
The administration recently launched an investigation into Germany’s price controls using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law designed to address unfair foreign practices. The White House plans to use this inquiry, and the threat of Section 301 tariffs, to compel Germany to adopt meaningful reforms.
The administration is considering Section 301 investigations of other countries, too — especially Japan, which has long imposed strict price controls on medicines, costing American manufacturers tens of billions of dollars.
FAKE PRICE DROPS, REAL DEBT: WHY CONGRESS MUST KILL THE LATEST MEDICARE SUBSIDY
Meanwhile, Trump is also taking on the pharmacy benefit managers and large insurance conglomerates that unfairly raise consumers’ drug costs. Earlier this year, his Federal Trade Commission secured landmark settlements requiring two of the country’s largest pharmacy benefit managers to increase transparency and stop artificially inflating prices for patients.
Simply put, Trump is fighting hard for patients and workers. But his administration isn’t adequately publicizing the full scope of those efforts. That’s a missed opportunity — one it will hopefully seize soon, before voters head to the polls.
Stacy Washington is the CEO of Share Net Ministries, a healthcare sharing nonprofit organization. She is also a decorated Air Force veteran, an Emmy-nominated TV personality, and the host of Stacy on the Right, which airs nightly from 9 p.m. to midnight on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
