President Donald Trump is taking aim at the high cost of drugs in the United States, signing an executive order that aims to get pharmaceutical companies to lower prices.
The executive order pressures drug companies to lower their prices in the U.S. and directs federal agencies to set targets. If those targets are not achieved, the action directs Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to propose a “most favored nation” pricing scheme that pegs drug prices to levels paid by other countries.
Drug prices in the U.S. are two to three times higher on average than those of comparable developed nations.
Northeastern Global News spoke with Gary Young, director of Northeastern University’s Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research, about the likely effects of the executive order — what it signals to drugmakers, and whether it’s sufficient to move the needle on prices.
