President Donald Trump on Friday announced new “Most Favored Nation” pricing agreements with nine additional pharmaceutical companies as part of his push to lower drug costs in the United States.
The president also said he plans to meet with health insurers next week or early January to pressure them to reduce premiums, as Republicans grapple with rising insurance costs and the impending expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“I’m going to call in the insurance companies that are making so much money, and they have to make less, a lot less,” Trump said, adding that the government should give money directly to Americans to buy coverage rather than subsidizing insurers. “Maybe we can have reasonable health care without having to cut them out.”
Insurance groups pushed back, saying premiums reflect medical costs. “Health plans are doing everything in their power to shield Americans from the high and rising costs of medical care,” said AHIP CEO Mike Tuffin.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association also said it is “eager” to work with Trump and Congress to reduce costs.
The new voluntary agreements expand an MFN initiative that requires drugmakers to sell medicines in the US at the lowest prices offered in comparable countries.
The companies involved are Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, Gilead, GSK, Merck, Novartis and Sanofi.
“MFN has gone from a bold policy to an industry standard, and it’s happened in record time,” a senior administration official said, adding that “initial industry hesitance collapsing into cooperation.”
Under the deals, companies will sell drugs to Medicaid at MFN prices and launch new medicines in the US at those rates. Bristol Myers Squibb said it would provide its blood thinner Eliquis to Medicaid programs for free.
Some medications will also be sold at discounted cash prices through the TrumpRx online platform launching in January. Merck said it will cut the price of Januvia to $100 from $330, while Gilead will offer Epclusa for $2,425 instead of $24,920, and GSK will sell Advair Diskus 500/50 for $89, down from $265.
The drugmakers also committed more than $150 billion to US manufacturing and research in exchange for a three-year tariff reprieve, and agreed to supply key drug ingredients for a national emergency stockpile.
“This is affordability in action,” said CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz.
However, experts say the deals cover only a small fraction of US drugs and may have limited impact.
Chris Meekins of Raymond James said the agreements are “largely inconsequential” to drugmakers’ profits and that most Americans will still find it cheaper to buy medications through insurance rather than paying cash via TrumpRx.
