Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are opaque intermediaries-and they are unpopular with figures including Mark Cuban, who told Fortune that the way they bargain over drug prices is absurd, something that would never happen at the very same pharmacies buying a package of Pringles potato-chip products.
TrumpRx, the Trump administration's much-anticipated direct-to-consumer drug platform, went live on Thursday. A key pillar of President Donald Trump's effort to lower prescription drug costs, the website will serve as a clearinghouse that connects patients with drugmakers selling certain products to those willing to pay cash and forgo insurance. The medications, including the blockbuster obesity drugs Zepbound and Wegovy, will be available at a discount through these channels.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: In the cabinet room today, the president, whose policies and decisions led to the murder in the streets of Minneapolis, hallucinated about phone conversations that never happened with leaders of foreign countries in which he told them that they will have to increase the price of prescription drugs in their countries so that the price of prescription drugs in the United States can come down. That formulation is obviously insane on its face.
President Donald Trump announced that Americans would see lower prescription drug prices after his administration reached deals with nine top drug manufacturers on Friday. Trump was joined at the White House Friday by the leaders of nine of the world's largest pharmaceutical manufacturersto announce that they have agreed to offer many of their flagship drugsat heavily discounted most favored nation's prices. Some of the drugs mentioned include those for diabetes, asthma, and blood thinning.
And I tell the story, Glenn, that in my first term, I had the honor of being the first president in 28 years to lower drug prices during the course of the year. And we actually did. And I was so proud of myself. We called a news conference. I announced it. It was one-eighth of 1 percent. One-eighth of 1 percent.
The national conversation around prescription drug pricing is back in full force. From the recent Most Favored Nation (MFN) executive order to President Trump's letter urging pharmaceutical companies to offer direct-to-consumer (DTC) pricing for brand medications, it's clear we're at a pivotal moment for American healthcare. It's a moment that demands more than just rhetoric; it demands innovation, pragmatism, and above all, deep collaboration across the industry.
