Trump Makes Drug Price Cuts and Direct Payments to Patients the Closing Pitch of the Midterm Campaign
The president says his 'Most Favored Nation' drug pricing deals 'should win the midterms.' The White House lists $500 Obamacare refunds, $90 Medicare payments and a $275 million nursing push. The claims come from the White House and the president.
In the last days before the midterms, President Trump has put health care costs at the center of his closing message, The Daily Wire reports.
The pitch. At the Republican National Committee's Midterm Convention in Dallas, Trump said his "Most Favored Nation" drug pricing results alone "should win the midterms," calling it "the largest prescription drug price cut in history." The Daily Wire says he has held 29 campaign rallies since the convention, plus tele-rallies Monday evening, and often used them to announce health care measures.
The list. The White House points to several steps: $500 refunds for nearly 1 million eligible Americans in 30 states, which it describes as Obamacare overcharges collected under the Biden government; one-time $90 Medicare Improvement Fund payments for more than 20 million enrollees to help with premiums; a $275 million Medicare and Medicaid agency effort to recruit and keep nurses in nursing homes; and a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, with $10 billion a year over five years. It also says CMS stopped duplicative and fraudulent enrollment in government health programs, saving about $1.5 billion over the next year.
Medicaid prices. In September, the White House said all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico signed onto the GENEROUS model for "most favored nation" Medicaid drug pricing, matching the lowest prices other countries pay. White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster said the deals are "driving the biggest drop in drug prices in decades" and that the White House is working with Congress on the "Great Healthcare Plan" to make them law.
Other moves. The Daily Wire adds that HHS issued new price transparency rules this fall, and that late in October Trump signed an order creating a White House Women's Health Task Force and a Women's Health Division, an initiative of the first lady.
The other side. Schuster said Democrats' main priority is "free healthcare for illegal aliens." That is her statement, and the report does not give Democrats' reply.
What we could not check. The dollar figures, the savings claims and the description of the rules come from the White House and Trump. We have not seen the underlying orders or any outside analysis of how much patients will save.