President Donald Trump revealed a new website called TrumpRx on Tuesday, September 30, after his administration reached a new deal with Pfizer. The pharmaceutical company will offer many of its drugs on the direct-to-consumer website for lower prices to patients on Medicaid. TrumpRx will be operated by the federal government. However, various policy experts believe that these reduced costs are limited in scope and might not impact everyday Americans.
TrumpRx will lower drug prices but may not “help the average person”
A spokesman for Pfizer says the prices for the majority of its primary care drugs will be reduced by half on average and in some cases by up to 85%, per NBC News. Trump says that any new drug that Pfizer creates will be sold at lower prices in the US as part of the deal.
Specifically, the company’s menopause drug Duavee will see its cost cut down to around $30, which is roughly an 85% reduction based on its price of $206 for 30 tablets, according to Drugs.com. The drug Tovias, meant to treat overactive bladders, will be cut to $42 while the non-steroidal topical ointment Eucrisa will be reduced to $162. The director of Medicare, Chris Klomp, says these new prices will be valid “in the near future.”
However, TrumpRx being a direct-to-consumer website means it won’t be relevant for many patients. As pointed out by Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University, the new site is “not going to help the average person,” particularly those who purchase prescription drugs through their insurance plan. The professor believes that TrumpRx is “good PR for drug companies” but is otherwise “more of a gimmick” and won’t do much to counter the broader “100% tariffs on drugs [which] will raise prices for consumers, not lower them.”
Drew Altman, the president of a health policy research group called KFF, notes that this Trump deal is only limited to this one specific drug company. It’s also unclear whether TrumpRx only applies to Medicaid, a program that has already faced significant cuts by the administration.
That said, Trump says that there would be similar deals with other drugmakers in the future, and TrumpRx could make it easier for the uninsured to purchase prescription drugs.
This deal with Pfizer will give the company a three-year grace period on the tariff on pharmaceuticals made outside of the US, which is planned to be announced on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Trump stirred controversy by calling Taylor Swift “no longer hot” and reportedly left out Prince Harry in his State Banquet to create drama.
