Washington, D.C. – Trump’s team recently huddled to shape their midterm messaging, signaling that “it’s all about the economy,” promising to spotlight affordability and drug prices on the campaign trail. But as Trump gaslights the American people, his record speaks for itself: costs are skyrocketing, hospitals are shutting down, and millions of people are grappling with the consequences of the GOP health care crisis. Aside from marketing schemes and empty promises, Trump and Republicans have done nothing to lower drug prices for patients. No amount of distortion of reality and gaslighting will change the fact that Trump and Republicans have wielded their power in the White House, Senate, and House to dismantle and ransack the American health care system to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations.
“Trump running on affordability is laughable,” said Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse. “Republican policies have only made life more expensive for hard-working families, and nothing has made that more clear than the GOP’s catastrophic cuts to health care. And when it comes to lowering the cost of drugs, it’s all smoke and mirrors while trying to lay claim to Democratic achievements, namely, Medicare drug price negotiations. Trump and his allies haven’t signed a single piece of legislation to lower prices for patients and instead have relentlessly sided with big drug companies and cut over a trillion dollars from health care, raising costs for millions. As we head into the midterms, voters will see through the lies and rebranding. You can’t campaign on lowering costs while actively working to undo the very policies that are delivering relief.”
Background
Trump Puts Drugmakers Above Everyday Americans at Every Opportunity:
- Trump spiked health care costs for over 20 million Americans and ripped health care away from 15 million Americans to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations such as Big Pharma.
- Trump entertained drug company CEOs at his Mar-a-Lago resort, solicited millions in donations, then spent the past year handsomely rewarding Big Pharma for their support.
- Trump helped big drug companies evade billions in taxes, escape tariffs, and exempt their top-selling products from drug price negotiations. Drug manufacturers received a huge return on their pay-to-play investments.
Trump Sold Out Seniors Fighting Cancer by Undermining Drug Price Negotiations:
- Trump handed Big Pharma their biggest victory in years by signing an $8.8 billion bailout designed to carve out top-selling products such as lifesaving cancer drugs Keytruda and Opdivo from Medicare drug price negotiation.
- “Thousands of Medicare recipients will have to wait longer to get some price relief on the expensive cancer drugs they depend on for treatment, while others might not get any reprieve at all,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Countless seniors will be forced to choose between putting food on the table and paying for the health care they need to survive, thanks to Trump.
Trump’s Drug Pricing ‘Deals’ Are No More Than a Publicity Stunt:
- “Discounts listed on Trump Rx are unlikely to benefit many people,” said Tradeoffs.
- “The deal will not directly benefit people on Medicaid because they already pay almost nothing in out-of-pocket costs,” according to the New York Times.
- “If this is all that President Trump does on drug pricing, it is likely a win for the pharmaceutical industry and should serve as a clearing event,” said industry analyst and former Trump administration health official Chris Meekins.
- Trump’s ‘deals’ may be more of a windfall to drug companies than previously thought. Drugmakers striking deals may be exempt from Medicare drug price demos.
Republicans Want to Raise Drug Costs. Democrats Are Fighting To Lower Them:
- Trump and Republicans in Congress want to hand big drug companies another win at the expense of seniors by delaying Medicare from negotiating lower prices for the small molecule drugs that make up 58 percent of the market. The Congressional Budget Office estimated this lobbying priority for Big Pharma would cost seniors and taxpayers $10 billion.
- If Republicans had their way, seniors would not have been able to expect savings on more than half of the drugs they will see lower, negotiated prices for in 2026 and 2027.
Thanks to Democrats taking on Big Pharma, seniors on Medicare are saving:
- $1.5 billion this year, thanks to newly negotiated drug prices
- Hundreds on insulin, thanks to a $35 monthly out-of-pocket cap
- An average of $400 per year, thanks to a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap.
- Democrats are fighting to lower drug costs for everyone by protecting seniors’ savings and expanding them to everyone, regardless of where they get their health insurance. 92 percent of Americans support expanding these savings.
