Trump Administration Expands Drug Pricing Initiative with 14 Companies to Target Tens of Billions in Savings
Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., praised President Donald Trump’s expanding agreements with major pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices on Tuesday, calling the effort “a fantastic development” that could save Americans “tens of billions of dollars.”
Meuser made the comments during an interview as the White House announced nine additional drugmakers had agreed to participate in the administration’s “most-favored-nation” pricing initiative, bringing the total to 14 companies.
Under the approach, the administration has sought to tie certain U.S. drug prices to the lowest prices paid by other wealthy countries.
Meuser stated he and President Trump have been advocates for a long time that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should be able to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies.
The administration described the new commitments as expanding price reductions beyond existing government programs and reaching consumers who pay cash or face high out-of-pocket costs.
The agreements include commitments to lower prices for some medicines and offer discounted purchases through a new direct-to-consumer platform the White House said would launch in January.
Meuser emphasized that the program would create additional ways for patients to access discounted medications while keeping pharmacies central to distribution. “The manufacturers, certainly prescription drugs, you’ll need to go to your pharmacist,” he said, adding prices would be “lower” under this framework.
He also pointed to a new TrumpRx initiative as a key part of the administration’s plan.
Meuser noted that the White House effort builds on President Trump’s May 2025 executive order directing agencies to pursue most-favored-nation pricing. The Department of Health and Human Services and CMS have been working to implement it.
The policy push comes alongside a separate federal effort under the Inflation Reduction Act to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. Under that law, CMS negotiated “maximum fair prices” for an initial set of 10 Part D drugs, with those prices set to take effect on January 1, 2026.
Meuser stressed the speed and scale of the initiative, saying Americans would soon “feel the impact” as the program moved from announcements to purchasing and pharmacy channels in early 2026.
However, some experts caution that the magnitude of potential savings depends on how the commitments are implemented and how broadly discounts apply across markets.
