On July 24, 2020, President Trump issued the following series of executive orders in an effort to lower drug prices:
- Lowering Prices for Patients by Eliminating Kickbacks to Middlemen: this executive order directs federally-qualified health centers to pass along massive discounts on insulin and epinephrine received from drug companies to certain low-income Americans.
- Increasing Drug Importation to Lower Prices for American Patients: this order is intended to allow state plans for safe importation of certain drugs, authorize the re-importation of insulin products made in the United States, and create a pathway for widespread use of personal importation waivers at authorized pharmacies in the US.
- Access to Affordable Life-saving Medications: this order is intended to prohibit secret deals between drug manufacturers and pharmacy-benefit manager middlemen, ensuring patients directly benefit from available discounts at the pharmacy counter.
President Trump also announced a 4th executive order intended to ensure that the United States pays the lowest price available in economically comparable countries for Medicare Part B drugs. However, the order’s implementation is delayed until August 25, 2020 to give pharmaceutical executives a chance to propose an alternative.