A top House Democrat says drugmakers will be cheering after President Trump’s speech on high drug prices scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said Friday that the president will not keep his campaign promise to give Medicare negotiating power to lower drug prices. Cummings also sent out a report that detailed major price increases during Trump’s first year in office.
“I think very expensive champagne will be popping in drug company boardrooms across the country tonight,” Cummings said before Trump’s speech.
The price of 16 of the top 20 best-selling drugs increased significantly in 2017, “mostly by double digits,” Cummings’ report said. Prices for 12 of the top 20 most costly drugs for Medicare Part D, the prescription drug program, also rose last year.
Cummings and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., asked Trump to support their bill to give Medicare negotiating power during an Oval Office meeting in March 2017. However, the bill has gone nowhere, and Trump is not expected to embrace the change in his speech, administration officials said during a briefing Thursday.
Trump is expected to address several factors causing high drug prices, including bashing countries that pay less than the U.S. for drugs through their strict price controls.
