Will Donald Trump Succeed in Lowering Drug Prices? Experts Weigh In

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday new measures to lower the costs of prescription drugs, which include increasing competition and creating transparency.

Newsweek spoke to two experts about how likely the new measures are to succeed.

Why It Matters

The president signed an executive order on Tuesday telling the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take steps to lower drug prices.

This was one of Trump's campaign promises before last year's election following efforts to reduce costs during his first term.

Trump's order is supposed to "improve upon" former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which aimed to reduce drug prices for people with Medicare and reduce drug spending by the federal government.

What Do Experts Say?

Juliette Cubanski, the deputy director of the Program on Medicare Policy at KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization, praised Trump's efforts, but said his measures do not include anything "that will quickly translate to lower drug prices on a broader scale without more concrete legislative or regulatory action."

"In fact, that's the thrust of many of the approaches here. For example, encouraging speedier action at the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] on state importation plans, or having the HHS Secretary work with Congress on changes to the Inflation Reduction Act, or revamping the regulations that govern implementation of Medicare's prescription drug price negotiation program," she told Newsweek.

Cubanski said that "it's very reasonable for the president to express support for policies that take aim at high drug prices, since it's a real pocketbook issue for consumers and top of mind for people when it comes to the affordability of their health care costs."

"But whether and to what extent these administrative and regulatory actions will translate into tangible and durable policies that lower prescription drug costs for consumers is an open question," she said.

Meanwhile, Stacie B. Dusetzina, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Health Policy and an Ingram professor of cancer research at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, called out the administration's FDA layoffs.

"Expediating approvals for biosimilar products is less likely to occur when the US Food and Drug Administration is short on staff and has lost many experienced employees," she told Newsweek.

Thousands of federal employees across the HHS earlier this month began receiving layoff notices in what the Trump administration has described as a sweeping reorganization of the agency responsible for public health, food safety, and medical research.

The FDA will lose 3,500 jobs, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will lose 2,400, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will lose 1,200, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will lose 300, according to figures released by HHS.

The administration has defended the cuts as a necessary efficiency measure, arguing that health outcomes have not improved commensurate with the agency's funding levels.

"The president has proposed several policy aims that are counter to many other actions taken by the administration over recent weeks," Dusetzina said before adding as an example: "The concept of expanding the ability to import drugs—presumably through Canada—seems incredibly unlikely. It was not likely to happen in prior years and given the tariffs and poor relations of late, I would not hold my breath."

Newsweek has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services via email for a response to these comments.

Since Trump became president, tariffs have been a major part of his policy offering, though he has temporarily paused many of those put in place.

Last year, the United States imported $213 billion worth of medicines, with little to no import tax because of a 1995 World Trade Organization agreement. Only 28 percent of manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients were in the U.S. as of August 2019, according to the FDA.

What Measures Has Trump Ordered?

• Drug Importation: Directing the FDA to allow the importation of certain lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other countries.
• Faster OTC Approvals: Ordering the FDA to speed up approval processes for safe and effective over-the-counter drugs.
• Transparency on Price Hikes: Requiring Medicare and Medicaid to publicly list drugs that experience significant price increases.
• Rebates to Patients: Finalizing a rule that mandates pharmacy benefit managers pass manufacturer rebates directly to patients at the pharmacy counter.
• Medicare Part D Cap: Supporting legislation to cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D.
• Price Transparency: Pushing for hospitals and insurers to disclose prices to increase competition and empower patient decision-making.

The administration said these actions are designed to expand access, reduce out-of-pocket costs, and improve price transparency across the health care system.