President Trump launched his TrumpRx website on Thursday, vowing Americans would “save a fortune” from cheaper drug prices on everything from Ozempic to fertility treatments.
“This is a very big deal. People are going to save a lot of money and be healthy,” Trump declared at an event announcing the new program.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, was at the launch and boasted that “America will lose about 100 million pounds this year” from cheaper GLP-1s drugs.
With regards to more affordable fertility medications, Oz quipped: “We’re gonna have a lot of Trump babies with these costs.”
The website is designed to be a competitive marketplace for Americans to purchase cheaper prescription drugs.
“Find the world’s lowest prices on prescription drugs,” TrumpRx.gov reads. It has a search function that allows users to type in the name of their prescription and view the results.
Joe Gebbia, the country’s Chief Design Officer, gave a tour of the site, advising users to find a cheaper drug option, then print out a coupon and take it to pharmacies for cheaper drugs.
Oz pointed out that use of the website is free.
“You get to look at all the prices, and you should not be buying drugs anymore going forward without at least checking to see if those medications are available at these discounted prices,” he said.
Trump pledged prices of drugs in the US would drop, while predicting costs worldwide would increase.
“The United States will pay the lowest price paid by any other country,” the president said.
“We will pay equal to whatever the lowest price anywhere in the world. So in many cases, the drug costs will go up by double and even triple for them, but they’re going way down for the United States.”
Trump complained America was subsidizing the cost of medication for other countries “by hundreds of billions of dollars every year,” and vowed that would end.
The administration has already made deals with five big pharmaceutical companies, the White House said in a fact sheet: AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer.
And Americans will see “massive price reductions on 40 of the most popular and expensive branded medicines in the nation,” the sheet noted.
The president eagerly promoted the website, which is a major part of his “great healthcare plan.”
“You’re going to see numbers that you’re not going to believe,” Trump said.
“Americans have long been paying the highest drug prices anywhere in the world, while other countries often paid pennies on the dollar for the exact same drugs.
Health care costs have long been a concern for Americans and Republicans are looking for ways to decrease them ahead of the November midterm election. Lower drug costs is a major pillar of the administration’s plan to tackle the high cost of living.
“Everyone – you’re going to save a fortune,” Trump said.
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