Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact
Under a brand new government order, prescription drug costs will likely be decreased “almost immediately.”
President Donald Trump, in a May 11 submit on Truth Social
President Donald Trump expressed excessive hopes for an government order to scale back drug costs.
On May 11, the day earlier than he held a White House occasion to signal the chief order, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%.”
However, the executive order’s text, unveiled May 12, undercut the president’s description of how quickly customers might expertise this potential boon.
The thought of the chief order, he stated, was to decrease excessive prescription drug prices within the U.S. to ranges extra typical in different international locations.
“We’re going to equalize,” Trump stated on the order signing. “We’re all going to pay the same. We’re going to pay what Europe’s going to pay.”
Experts stated Trump’s motion might decrease the price of pharmaceuticals, maybe by the 30% to 80% Trump stated, however they cautioned that the order’s required procedural steps would make it removed from an instantaneous repair.
The government order says that inside 30 days, administration officers should decide and talk to drugmakers “most-favored-nation price targets,” to push the businesses to “bring prices for American patients in line with comparably developed nations.”
After an unspecified time period, the administration will gauge whether or not “significant progress” towards decrease pricing has been achieved. If not, the order requires the secretary of Health and Human Services to “propose a rulemaking plan to impose most-favored-nation pricing,” which might take months or years to take impact.
“Executive orders are wish lists,” stated Joseph Antos, a senior fellow emeritus in well being care coverage on the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The order “hopes that manufacturers will unilaterally lower U.S. prices. The legal authority to intervene in the market is unclear if this implausible scenario doesn’t happen.”
When contacted for remark, the White House didn’t present proof that the chief order would supply fast outcomes.
Why Do Americans Pay More for Prescriptions?
There is wide agreement that drug costs are unusually excessive within the U.S. The costs Americans pay for prescription drugs are practically 3 times the common amongst a gaggle of different industrialized international locations within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
A study by the Rand Corp., a nonpartisan analysis group, discovered that, throughout all medicine, U.S. costs had been 2.78 occasions as excessive as the common costs throughout 33 OECD international locations. The hole was even wider for brand-name medicine, with U.S. costs averaging 4.22 occasions as a lot.
The U.S. has decrease costs than comparable nations for unbranded, generic medicine, which account for about 90% of stuffed prescriptions within the U.S. But generics account for less than a fifth of U.S. prescription drug spending.
Experts cite a number of causes for this pricing discrepancy.
One is that the U.S. has extra restricted value negotiation with drug producers than other countries do. Often, if one other nation fails to seek out the additional price of a brand new drug is justified by improved outcomes, it’ll reject the drug utility. Some international locations additionally set price controls.
Another issue is patent exclusivity. Over the years, U.S. pharmaceutical corporations have used sturdy authorized protections to amass patents that may maintain generic rivals from {the marketplace}.Drug corporations have additionally argued that top costs assist pay for analysis and growth of latest and improved prescription drugs. When Trump launched the chief order, Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of the drug business group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in a statement, “It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardize the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America.” (In Trump’s May 13 interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump supplied a unique image of what drug firm officers have advised him; he stated they agreed “it’s time” to decrease U.S. costs.)
Recent research have solid doubt on the concept excessive costs pay for analysis and growth. A 2023 study discovered that from 1999 to 2018, the world’s 15 largest biopharmaceutical corporations spent extra on promoting and normal administrative actions, which embody advertising, than on analysis and growth. The research additionally stated most new medicines developed throughout this era supplied little to no scientific profit over present remedies.
The long-standing actuality of excessive U.S. drug costs has pushed Democratic and Republican efforts to convey them down. Then-President Joe Biden signed laws to require Medicare, the federal well being care program that covers Americans over 65, to negotiate prices with the makers of some fashionable, high-cost medicines. And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has made decreasing drug costs a cornerstone issue throughout his political profession.
During his first time period, Trump sought to decrease costs for sure medicine below Medicare, however the courts blocked the move on procedural grounds.
Trump’s drug-price push might appeal to bipartisan assist, consultants stated.
Jonathan Cohn, who has labored for a number of left-of-center media shops and wrote two books on well being care coverage, offered measured praise for Trump’s government order in The Bulwark, a publication typically crucial of Trump, calling it “a serious policy initiative, one that credible people think could bring some relief on drug prices.”
Andrew Mulcahy, a Rand Corp. senior well being economist, stated one a part of Trump’s assertion — the potential of a 30% to 80% value discount — is believable.
“Of course, the devil’s in the policy design and implementation details,” Mulcahy stated. “But at first blush, a savings of roughly two-thirds on what we spend now for drugs seems in line” with what Rand’s analysis has proven.
What Would Trump’s Executive Order Do?
Referring to excessive U.S. drug costs, Trump advised Hannity that “I ended it” by issuing the chief order. But that’s not how the order is structured.
The government order makes plain that any actions is not going to occur shortly.
“That ‘almost’ in ‘almost immediately’ is doing a lot of work,” Mulcahy stated, referring to Trump’s assertion.
The government order additionally might face court docket challenges, simply as Trump’s first-term government order did.
“It seems unlikely that the federal government can set prices for drugs outside of the Medicare program,” Antos stated. If Trump needs decreased costs to learn all U.S. customers, consultants stated, Congress will possible should move new laws. While government orders direct federal businesses what to do, requiring motion from privately owned corporations possible would require laws handed by Congress, consultants stated.
If Congress will get concerned, that won’t solely tack on further time, but it surely additionally might draw opposition from the Republican majority in a single or each chambers. Historically, Antos stated, “federal price controls are anathema for many Republicans in Congress.”
Our Ruling
Trump stated that, due to his new government order, prescription drug costs can be decreased “almost immediately.”
Experts stated that if the objectives of the chief order are achieved, value reductions wouldn’t occur “almost immediately.”
The order units out a 30-day interval to develop pricing targets for drugmakers, adopted by an unspecified period of time to see if corporations obtain the targets. If they don’t, a proper rulemaking course of would start, requiring months and even years. And if Trump intends to decrease costs for all customers, not solely those that have federal protection similar to Medicare, Congress will possible should move a regulation to do it.
Trump gives the look that Americans will shortly see steep decreases in what they pay for pharmaceuticals. But even when the chief order acts as supposed — which might require so much to go proper — it might take months or years.
The assertion accommodates a component of fact however ignores proof that will give a unique impression. We price it Mostly False.
Sources
Donald Trump, Truth Social post, May 11, 2025
White House, “Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients,” May 12, 2025
Rand Corp., “International Prescription Drug Price Comparisons: Estimates Using 2022 Data,” February 2024
Government Accountability Office, “U.S. Prices for Selected Brand Drugs Were Higher on Average Than Prices in Australia, Canada, and France,” March 2021
The BMJ, “High Drug Prices Are Not Justified by Industry’s Spending on Research and Development,” Feb. 15, 2023
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, “PhRMA Statement on Most Favored Nation Executive Order,” May 12, 2025
USA Today, “RFK Jr. Spars With Bernie Sanders Over Who Did Most To Curb Prescription Drug Prices,” May 12, 2025
The Associated Press, “Trump Plan To Curb Drug Costs Dealt Setback in Court,” Dec. 23, 2020
The Associated Press, “White House Says Prescription Drug Deals Will Produce Billions in Savings for Taxpayers, Seniors,” Aug. 15, 2024
PolitiFact, “For the Most Part, the US Pays Double for Prescriptions Compared With Other Countries, as Biden Says,” March 4, 2024
Email interview with Joseph Antos, senior fellow emeritus in well being care coverage on the American Enterprise Institute, May 12, 2025
Email interview with Andrew Mulcahy, senior well being economist with Rand Corp., May 12, 2025
