KFF finds TrumpRx prices a 'mixed bag' against Trump's claim of world's lowest drug prices

Left · 2Ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, President Donald Trump has increasingly promoted his drug pricing deals, saying the U.S. now pays the world's lowest prescription drug prices and that "This one thing alone should win us the midterms." 1 2 Left · 2KFF, a nonpartisan research group, compared the prices of 32 brand-name drugs sold through TrumpRx.gov that have no generic or biosimilar equivalents with prices in 11 other wealthy countries, including Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; prices were current as of Aug. 26. 1 2 Left · 2TrumpRx prices were lower than the average prices abroad for 17 of the drugs and higher for 15. Measured against Trump's promise of the lowest prices in the world, only five were the lowest-priced and 13 were the highest-priced. 1 2

Left · 2Examples vary widely: Ozempic costs $349 a month through TrumpRx against a next-highest price of $190 a month in several other wealthy countries, and Enbrel costs $3,354 a month, more than five times the $641 average abroad. Rydapt, a blood cancer drug, costs $2,909 for 56 capsules, less than half the $5,901 price in France, the next-cheapest country. 1 2 Left · 2Juliette Cubanski, KFF's deputy director of the Medicare policy program and a co-author, called the results "kind of a mixed bag" and said that even with discounts, prices on the site "still continue to be higher than prices in comparable countries" in many cases. Dr. Benjamin Rome of Harvard Medical School said he was not surprised. 1 2 Left · 1TrumpRx.gov launched in February and has grown from a few dozen brand-name drugs to more than 800 brand-name and generic medications. It does not sell drugs directly; for many it sends consumers to manufacturer programs offering coupons or discounted cash prices, and the spending does not count toward a patient's copay or deductible. The White House says the discounts stem from "most favored nation" deals with drugmakers made in exchange for tariff relief, but the details remain largely confidential. 1

Left · 1The analysis has limits. Antonio Ciaccia of 46brooklyn Research counts about 80 brand-name drugs on TrumpRx, against the 32 KFF could compare; some drugs are not sold in every country, and public foreign prices may omit confidential discounts. The report also did not compare TrumpRx savings within the U.S., and the White House did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment. 1 Left · 2Federal inflation data show prescription drug prices fell 3.1% over the year ending in July, but experts say it is too soon to know how much, if any, is due to the pricing deals. They also note that drugmakers could raise prices abroad, narrowing the gap without lowering U.S. prices. 1 2