SHOT: President Trump Threatens to Veto The Lower Drug Costs Now Act Which Gives Medicare the Power To Negotiate For Lower Drug Prices. [Office of Management and Budget, 12/10/19]
CHASER: Just A Few Of The Many Times President Trump Has Said He Supports Give Medicare the Power to Negotiate for Lower Drug Prices:
- JANUARY 2016: Trump Said He Would “Bid Out” Drugs For Medicare And Save $300 Billion. “Like for instance, drugs with Medicare, they don’t bid them out. They don’t bid them. They pay like this wholesale incredible number, hundreds of — they say like $300 billion could be saved, if we bid them out. We don’t do it. Why? Because of the drug companies, folks.” [Donald Trump, Rally, Farmington, NH, 1/25/16]
- JANUARY 2017: Trump: “The Other Thing We Have To Do Is Create New Bidding Procedures For The Drug Industry Because They’re Getting Away With Murder.” “We’ve got to get our drug industry back. Our drug industry has been disastrous. They’re leaving left and right. They supply our drugs, but they don’t make them here, to a large extent. And the other thing we have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry because they’re getting away with murder. Pharma, pharma has a lot of lobbies and a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power and there’s very little bidding on drugs. We’re the largest buyer of drugs in the world and yet we don’t bid properly and we’re going to start bidding and we’re going to save billions of dollars over a period of time.” [Donald Trump, Press Conference, New York, NY, 1/11/17]
- MARCH 2017: Trump: “We’re Going To Bid Out Drug Prices And We’re Going To Try And Have The Lowest Prices Anywhere In The World From Really The Highest.” “Elijah Cummings who was here about two weeks ago, who I happen to think is a terrific man. I don’t know if he’ll say that about me, but I will tell you I really liked him a lot. And we were talking about drugs and prescription drugs and the costs. And you go Europe, you go to Canada, you go to other countries and you buy them for a fraction of what you pay in this country. And that’s been a very big subject for him and it’s a subject for me that is very important and we’re going to either do it in healthcare, which I think we’re going to do it in healthcare, or we’re going to do it separately. But we’re going to bid out drug prices and we’re going to try and have the lowest prices anywhere in the world from really the highest.” [Donald Trump, Meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, Washington, DC, 3/22/17]