Washington (AP) – Pfizer has agreed to reduce the costs for prescription drugs for Medicaid as part of a deal made by the Trump government, said President Donald Trump on Tuesday when he promised similar business with other drug manufacturers under the threat of tariffs.
Trump made the announcement in the White House together with the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, just a few hours before a possible government closure in a partisan blank for health care and expenses.
Pfizer Inc., one of the largest US pharmaceutical manufacturers, produces the COVID-19 vaccine compiky and the treatment paxlovide. The products also include several cancer medication, the blood -thinner Eliquis and the vaccines of the prevention of lititis.
As part of the deal, the Pfizer Medicaid, based in New York, will invoice the most busy prices for the most employed nation and guarantee that the pricing for newly launched drugs, said Trump. This includes agreement with the lowest price in other industrialized nations.
Pfizer also agreed to take part in a modern website. According to Pfizer, many of his treatments are offered with discounts, which have an average of 50% of this platform.
The agreement builds on an executive regulation signed in May, which sets a deadline for drug manufacturers in order to elective prices or to set modern limits for the government’s payment. Trump said that business with other pharmaceutical companies would come next week.
“I can’t tell you how big it is,” said the president on Tuesday.
“We turn the leaf and reverse an unfair situation,” said Bourla.
However, the expert for prescription medication Stacie Dusetzina said that it is not clear, but the extent of the price changes that will occur. The professor of Vanderbilt University Medical Center found that Pfizer keeps certain conditions of the deal confidentially, and it was not clear how different every modern price level would be of what Medicaid already pays.
It is expected that consumers only see lower prices in the context of the Pfizer deal in 2026, so high -ranking administrative officials who were not justified to speak publicly and talked about the condition of anonymity.
Patients in Medicaid, the state and investigated program for people with low incomes, already pay a nominal additional payment of some dollars to close their recipes, but lower prices could contribute to the fact that the budget budgets that finance the programs to finance the programs.
Lower drug prices also aid patients who have no insurance cover and little lever to negotiate better offers about their payments. But even steep discounts of 50%found on the administration website can still pay hundreds of dollars per month for some recipes.
Drug manufacturers in recent years have started to launch websites to connect customers directly to some products such as obese treatments or the blood thinner eliquis.
However, Dusetzina said that the sale of such drugs will only aid consumers a compact number of people.
“Theoretically there are some that benefit from it, but in general this is not a solution to reduce drug prices,” she said.
In addition to the obligation to reduce the costs, Pfizer agreed to issue 70 billion US dollars for domestic production systems.
The White House has not published any details about the investment, but Pfizer said in an explanation that the effort in the next few years would be devoted to the US research, development and capital projects.
Trump has spoken about the need to reduce drug prices and to raise the US drug production. In order to convince companies to vote, said Trump, he threatened to impose tariffs – a popular instrument from him to employ as a lever in all government areas in all government areas – but this step could raise the drug prices.
Trump said the tariff threatening the government brought in “a pretty good negotiating position” and said: “This is something that most people said it was not possible.”
One thing that is not feasible was Trump’s repeated claim that the drug prices would be reduced by more than 100%, “14, 15, 1,600% in some cases,” he said.
A 100% reduction would free the medication. Cuts larger than that essentially mean that people are paid for taking the drugs.
At the end of July, Trump sent letters to managers of 17 pharmaceutical companies about changes that he would like to see. Copies of the letters published on social media note that US prices for marksk drugs can be up to three times higher than average elsewhere.
On Monday, the letters asked the drug manufacturers to offer what Pfizer approved: prices for Medicaid and modern medication the most.
Trump also asked the drug manufacturers to offer the lower pricing directly to consumers and companies.
Trump has claimed that the USA with its higher drug prices subsidize the supply in other countries.
Pharmaceutical prices for patients in the USA can depend on a number of factors, including the competition, with which treatment with treatment and insurance protection is available. Most people have a cover through work, the individual insurance market or the government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which they protect against a huge part of the costs.
While Trump focused on drug costs on Tuesday, the Democrats focused on the reversal of Medicaid’s cuts in the extensive law, which he had signed this summer.
They urged that this reversal was included in a measure to finance the government at compact notice, together with an extension of tax cuts, the health insurance premiums for people who acquire marketplaces for the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans said they will not negotiate.
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Murphy reported from Indianapolis.
