President Trump and the drugmaker Pfizer announced a deal on Tuesday in which the drug company would sell many of its products to Medicaid at the much lower prices it offers to European countries.
Under the agreement, Pfizer would also release new drugs at prices that similarly align with those in other wealthy nations.
In an Oval Office news conference, the Trump administration’s top health officials also announced the launch of a new website, TrumpRx, where Americans will be able to buy drugs directly from manufacturers.
The website is still under construction, officials said, but will include products from many major pharmaceutical companies, in keeping with demands the president laid out in an executive order in May. Pfizer said the site would be TrumpRx.gov, which was not yet live on Tuesday.
Consumers will be able to pay for drugs there directly, using their own money and sidestepping health insurance. In many cases, this system may be more expensive for insured patients, because they often have lower out-of-pocket costs when they fill prescriptions using insurance.
Companies like Eli Lilly have already begun offering these programs for certain drugs, where patients can use their own money or, in some cases, go through insurance.
“We’re ending the era of global price gouging at the expense of American families,” Mr. Trump said.
But the scope of the deal remains unclear. The officials did not specify which drugs would be priced lower for Medicaid but they said almost all the drugs Pfizer makes would be included. Pfizer has not agreed to cut the prices it currently offers to employers, private insurers and other government programs, like Medicare.
And although Mr. Trump said he was confident that other drugmakers would fall in line, it remains uncertain whether they will make similar concessions.
Brand-name drug prices in the United States are three times as high, on average, as those in peer nations. Drug companies already give Medicaid, the health insurance program for lower-income Americans, significantly lower prices than American employers and other U.S. government programs.
This developing story will be updated.
