President Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to draft regulations imposing price restrictions tied to lower amounts paid in other developed nations. This move revives a long-stalled idea that had been part of the Biden administration’s plan to cap drug prices.
Key Points of the Executive Order
- Regulations Timeline: HHS is instructed to draw up regulations next month that impose price restrictions based on lower amounts paid in other developed nations.
- Enforcement: If drugmakers do not voluntarily reduce their prices, these restrictions will be enforced.
Trump’s Remarks
"We could have done this a long time ago," Mr. Trump stated at a White House event announcing his move. He criticized Democrats, saying, "Democrats have fought like hell for drug companies, and they knew they were doing wrong."
Background on Drug Price Capping
- The idea of capping drug prices was part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year, which allowed Medicare to negotiate lower prices with pharmaceutical companies but did not include caps based on foreign price data.
- House Democrats had proposed capping maximum prices based on averages from countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, and the UK, a benchmark known as international reference pricing (IRP). However, this plan was blocked by Republicans when they controlled Congress.
Insights from Democratic Staffers
Wendell Primus, a longtime Democratic staffer and former top aide on health policy, expressed hope that Trump would support negotiations. He noted, "We hoped we’d get Trump; he said ‘I want to undergo negotiations.’ But then Republicans got hold of him."
The bill did not pass through the Senate at the time due to Republican control. After Democrats gained control of the Senate nearly two years ago, the idea faced challenges as Biden aides and lawmakers attempted to incorporate it into the Inflation Reduction Act.
Challenges in Congress
Multiple Democratic senators involved in discussions attributed the failure of the drug-price cap plan to a significant meeting between staffers from the Finance Committee party leadership. Primus commented, "It would have been very difficult for moderates like Menendez or Sinema to agree if there had been something about foreign country pricing." He added that concerns existed regarding the potential impact of price caps on innovation from U.S. drugmakers.
Christen Linke-Young, deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under Biden, stated, "President Biden and Democrats care about getting something done; so there was compromise—not perfect, but going to make a huge amount of difference."
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