scuttled a deal to lower drug prices because he wanted pharmaceutical companies to mail cash cards ahead of the election?
In August, 2020, Trump’s administration was nearing a deal with the pharmaceutical industry in which companies would spend $150 billion to address out-of-pocket costs and cover part of co-payments for seniors. However, the Trump administration demanded that the companies also send $100 cash cards to every senior in America ahead of the election. While the administration claimed that they wouldn’t place Trump’s signature on the cards, COVID-19 relief checks included letters with such signatures.
The vice president of public affairs at PhRMA, the industry’s largest trade group, explained, “We could not agree to the administration’s plan to issue one-time savings cards right before a presidential election,” going on to dismiss the real effectiveness of one-time cash cards.
Trump instead issued an Executive Order requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to “immediately take appropriate steps to implement his rulemaking plan to test a payment model” that would benefit American drug prices. Opposed by the pharmaceutical industry, it was unclear how long, or whether at all, the Executive Order would have any effect.
Trump also included his name on COVID-19 stimulus checks and sent signed letters to recipients.
The New York Times – A Deal on Drug Prices Undone by White House Insistence on ‘Trump Cards’
Business Insider – The White House botched a deal to lower prescription prices because drug companies wouldn’t budge on its request to pay for $100 gift cards that would’ve been mailed to seniors before the election
NPR – Trump Signs New Executive Order On Prescription Drug Prices
