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Trump’s return to office was going to result in drastic immediate changes that many Americans clearly didn’t understand when they cast their ballots for him. One of the changes that Trump never talked about while campaigning was his plan to raise prescription drug prices for millions of seniors by reversing Biden’s order allowing Medicare to launch new programs to lower prescription drug prices.
One of the first actions he took after taking office was to make prescription drugs more expensive.
Among the slew of Biden executive actions that Trump revoked was Executive Order 14087 of October 14, 2022 (Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans).
According to a CMS report, EO 14087:
The EO directs the Secretary of HHS to “consider whether to select for testing by the Innovation Center new health care payment and delivery models that would lower drug costs and promote access to innovative drug therapies for beneficiaries enrolled in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including models that may lead to lower cost-sharing for commonly used drugs and support value-based payment that promotes high-quality care.”7 The EO further directs the Secretary to submit a report to the White House’s Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy no later than 90 days from the date of the EO “enumerating and describing any models that the Secretary has selected,” including “the Secretary’s plan and timeline to test any such models,” and to “take appropriate actions to test any health care payment and delivery models discussed in the report.
The order led to Medicare developing three innovative experiments that would have lowered prescription drug prices for millions. One of the experiments required Medicare to offer generic drugs for a flat $2 co-pay.
All of that is gone now.
Medicare still has the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, but that was granted in the Inflation Reduction Act, and it would take another act of Congress to eliminate it, but there will be no more innovative advancements to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Americans.
Because the Trump presidency is all about making the government work for billionaires and corporations.
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