Responding to American business and families concerns about high prescription drug costs, the Trump Administration released “American Patients First Blueprint,” the President’s blueprint to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs today.
Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced the plan saying, “We have access to the greatest medicines in the world, but access is meaningless without affordability.”
Secretary Azar said when it comes to the cost of prescription drugs, our healthcare system faces four major challenges:
- high list prices for drugs;
- seniors and government programs overpaying for drugs due to lack of the latest negotiation tools;
- out-of-pocket costs for consumers; and
- foreign governments free-riding off of American investment in innovation.
The Secretary called the newly announced Trump blueprint “a historic plan for bringing down the high price of drugs and reducing out-of-pocket costs for the American consumer … that will bring immediate relief to American patients while also delivering long-term reforms.”
The American Patients First Blueprint rolled out today identifies four key strategies for reform:
• Improved competition
• Better negotiation
• Incentives for lower list prices
• Lowering out-of-pocket costs
HHS’s blueprint encompasses two phases:
- Actions the President may direct HHS to take immediately and
- Action HHS is actively considering, on which feedback is being solicited.
Read the Blue Print here.
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