Could “TrumpRx” be the prescription for lower drug prices?
President Donald Trump announced a landmark deal with Pfizer to cut drug prices and sell medications on TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer federal website that’s slated to launch next year.
Prescription drug prices in the US are roughly 2.78 times higher on average than in 33 other high-income countries, a 2024 report by the RAND Corporation found — but some savings on TrumpRx are expected to reach up to 85%.
Still, the new deal has left Americans with some burning questions: Who will benefit? How much less will they pay? And will other pharmaceutical companies soon join?
Here’s a look at what the Pfizer deal and TrumpRx mean for American wallets.
Will everyone get cheaper drugs under TrumpRx?
The short answer: Most people will not.
Many of the details of the plan are still being ironed out, but some drug-pricing experts were less than impressed with Tuesday’s announcement, arguing that it will only help a sliver of the population.
“American citizens [will] continue to pay through the nose to get vital drugs into our bodies,” Alan Sager, a professor of health law, policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health, told The Post.
“A few people will be better off — people who can afford to buy drugs that are not covered by their insurance through the website — because they’ll pay lower prices than they do now,” he added. “But that’ll be a few people in every thousand.”
Should people with insurance use TrumpRx?
The deals on the website are available only to people who are not using their health insurance, NPR reported. Ninety-two percent of Americans had health insurance in 2023, according to census numbers.
It would likely cost less to use health insurance — if the insurance covers the drugs.
For example, a 30-day supply of Xeljanz extended-release tablets to treat rheumatoid arthritis can cost $5,940 without insurance, according to Drugs.com.
The new deal could slash that price by 40%, to about $3,600 a month.
There are no generic alternatives to Xeljanz, but GoodRx notes that 96% of insurance plans cover the most common version of Xeljanz at a co-pay of $60 to $83.
Pfizer — which sells Xeljanz — has not agreed to reduce drug prices for employers, private insurance companies or Medicare.
How will the deal affect people on Medicaid?
Pfizer agreed to lower prescription drug prices for Medicaid recipients, who make up about 21% of the US population — or roughly 71 million low-income people.
“It’s going to have a huge impact on bringing Medicaid costs down like nothing else,” Trump said at Tuesday’s news conference.
But experts note that Medicaid prices aren’t that high to begin with.
“In the Medicaid program, most drugs are already priced extremely low compared to national averages — the net prices are among the lowest in the country,” William Padula, a professor of pharmaceutical economics at the University of Southern California, told The Post.
Any lower Medicaid prices will likely save state agencies and the federal government money — not enrollees.
If Medicaid beneficiaries have to make copayments, they are already “nominal.”
What drugs are included — and how much will people save?
Pfizer makes, markets or distributes over 313 drugs in the US, including the blood thinner Eliquis and the COVID-19 pill Paxlovid. And more than 100 more are in the pipeline.
The Manhattan-headquartered company will offer the dermatitis ointment Eucrisa and the migraine nasal spray Zavzpret at 80% and 50% off their list prices, respectively, on TrumpRx.
A full list of the medicines that are part of the deal was not immediately available.
Most of those highlighted in Tuesday’s news conference are not considered blockbuster drugs.
Pfizer said it will also launch new drugs in the US at discounted prices as part of the deal, which includes a three-year grace period from new tariffs on imported medications.
Will other drug companies join TrumpRx?
The Trump administration indicated that other pharmaceutical companies inked similar agreements but did not identify them.
Any other benefits?
TrumpRx will help to illuminate drug prices, allowing patients to make informed healthcare choices, though hospitals are already required to publish pricing information for services and drugs.
The federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule took effect in 2021. Here’s an example of transparency tools.
What’s the ‘most favored nations’ price model?
Trump has long promised to slash drug prices, telling Time in 2016, “I’m going to bring down drug prices. I don’t like what has happened with drug prices.”
Sager noted that while the US represents about 4% of the world’s population, it accounts for a disproportionately large share of global drug revenues.
Trump signed an executive order in 2020 to establish a Most Favored Nations pricing model, including for Medicare Part B and Part D drugs.
MFN is designed to bring drug costs in line with the lower prices paid by other economically developed countries.
Trump’s policy never took effect — it was blocked by federal courts for not following proper rulemaking procedures. He reintroduced the MFN concept this year.
In May, he signed a new executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to set MFN price targets for certain brand-name prescription drugs.
Then in July, Trump sent letters to 17 leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, giving them 60 days to reduce drug costs. The deadline was Monday.
Concerns that Trump’s plan doesn’t go far enough
TrumpRx appears to be following in the footsteps of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which launched an online pharmacy in March that allows uninsured or underinsured patients to shell out $499 a month for the prescription obesity drug Wegovy.
Direct-to-consumer drug platforms like TrumpRx and NovoCare Pharmacy help bypass middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for health insurers, employers and other payers.
Andrew Spiegel — CEO of the Global Colon Cancer Association, which promotes awareness, screenings and access to treatments for the devastating disease — said it’s important to address tariffs and increasing fees from PBMs to lower drug prices.
He also pointed out that huge markups are a major issue within the 340B drug pricing program, which allows eligible hospitals and clinics to buy outpatient prescription drugs at a discount and bill private insurers and patients at the full, nondiscounted price.
“To deliver lower costs, fairer access and continued progress against diseases like colon cancer,” Spiegel told The Post, “policymakers must rein in middlemen, reform 340B, lower tariffs that raise patient prices and adopt strong trade policies that ensure all countries pay their fair share — without stifling the investment in innovation that patients depend on.”
Padula said we should be looking at the pricey research and development process.
“When we as a country pay, on average, $2 billion for the development of a drug, that includes all the failures that went into the R&D process,” he explained.
“We could be more efficient at developing drug successes through the R&D process,” he added. “You could eliminate 90% of the overhead costs of R&D, and then pharmaceutical companies could potentially lower the price by as much as that.”