WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday and directed his health department to work with Congress on revamping a law that allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, seeking to introduce a change the pharmaceutical industry has lobbied for.
“This (order) will provide meaningful relief to seniors and low income individuals who depend on insulin and many, many more,” a White House official told reporters.
The wide-ranging executive order signed by Trump aims to reduce health care costs. It comes one day after the Trump administration initiated a national security report into the pharmaceutical industry, a precursor to sector-specific tariffs.
Administration officials will start working on initiatives ranging from getting more savings out of drug price talks to paying the same amount for cancer treatments regardless of whether the drugs are delivered in a hospital-owned or independent facility.
Bill Schiffner
Drug manufacturers have been pushing to delay the timeline under which medications become eligible for price negotiations by four years for small molecule drugs, which are primarily pills and account for most medicines.
That would align with the 13-year wait until more complex biotech drugs become eligible for Medicare price negotiations.
Consumers, however, will have to wait to see some of these results. The lower Medicare prices negotiated in the Biden administration won't take effect until 2026. And prices from the new round of negotiations by the Trump administration won't be available until 2027.
