President Donald Trump on May 18 announced a dramatic expansion of TrumpRx.gov, a government website that lists discounted prescription drugs negotiated by his administration, a White House official said.
Trump announced that more than 600 generic drugs have been added to the direct-to-consumer website as part of his administration’s effort to lower prescription drug prices. The government website will direct people to private-sector online pharmacies and drug-pricing websites, including Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy and GoodRx.
TrumpRx, launched in January, is a key pillar of Trump’s efforts to lower prescription drug costs for Americans. The Trump administration has negotiated most-favoured-nation deals with 17 big pharmaceutical companies, aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs to the levels of other developed countries.
Before Monday’s announcement of the addition of generic drugs, the website had listed only brand-name drugs from those 17 companies.
“We went from the highest to the lowest (prices),” Trump said. “Other than maybe Medicare, it’s the biggest thing that’s happened to health care.”
What TrumpRx does and doesn’t do
While Trump has repeatedly promoted his efforts to make prescription drugs affordable for Americans, brand-name drug prices on the TrumpRx website often mirror generic counterparts that can be purchased elsewhere, often at lower prices.
TrumpRx directs consumers paying with cash to drug manufacturers’ websites or coupons that can be used at pharmacies. The site does not process insurance claims, and most people use their health insurance plan’s drug benefits when filling prescriptions.
Nearly 6 in 10 Americans said they are worried about affording the cost of their prescription drugs, according to a March survey by KFF, a non-partisan health policy nonprofit. Four in 10 said they have saved costs by skipping doses, not filling prescriptions, or taking other cost-saving measures.
New features and the role of Mark Cuban
The TrumpRx website has added some price transparency tools for consumers. New website features allow consumers to compare prices at chain and independent pharmacies in their neighborhood. Consumers will also be able to take home delivery of some medicines.
Cuban, a billionaire entrepreneur who promotes price transparency in health care, praised efforts to lower drug prices through TrumpRx. He said the 559 generic medicines listed on the government website will come from Cost Plus Drugs.
Cuban predicted that as more people learned about cost-plus drugs from the government website, prices would drop further.
“Republicans want cheap drugs. Independents want cheap drugs. Democrats want cheap drugs,” Cuban said. “I think we’re going to do something special.”