Secretive pharma deals may slash Trump MFN savings 80% — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- The Trump administration's projected Medicare savings from its "most-favored nation" drug pricing plan may be reduced by as much as 80% due to secretive deals cut with more than two dozen pharmaceutical companies, according to a new analysis
- The White House has maintained the effort would save Medicare $26 billion over several years by tying U.S. prices to what 19 other wealthy nations pay for the same medicines
- The GLOBE and GUARD pilot programs — covering Medicare Part B and Part D respectively — will require drug companies to pay additional rebates if their prices exceed the lowest international price found among those 19 countries
- More specific rules for the GLOBE and GUARD programs are due shortly
Why it matters: If $26 billion in projected Medicare savings shrinks by as much as 80%, the administration's headline drug-cost fix delivers roughly $5 billion instead — leaving Medicare's long-standing prescription affordability problem largely unresolved despite months of White House promotion.
Ask SkimNews
