Pharmaceutical firms have launched a major lobbying campaign to thwart any serious attempts at lowering prescription drug prices by President Donald Trump . In January ’s endorsement of the Union address and in New Hampshire in 2016 , Trump vowed drug prices would rise “ very substantially in the not - too - distant future ” . He is due to lay out his pricing proposals in a presidential speech later this month . Big Pharma spent $ 171.5 million lobbying the federal government in 2017 – more than any other industry , according to the Center for Responsive Politics . Spending by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America , the main donor for the campaign , rose to $ 10 million in Q1 of this year , up from $ 8 million over the period in 2017 . Pharmaceutical firms may have good reason for concern . During his presidential campaign , Trump focused on positions on drug prices long held by Democrats and opposed by his party and Big Pharma . He said that consumers should be able to import prescription drugs from some countries where brand - name prices were lower than the US and that drug bosses should negotiate prices with drug - makers . The public are likely to back Trump , with 80 percent of Americans thinking drug prices are unreasonably high , according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey . Drug - makers have successfully challenged many previous bids to cut the payments they get from Medicare , Medicaid and other government schemes . However , they suffered a major setback in February when Congress made them give bigger discounts to Medicare patients . They are now concerned about the president ’s plans to lower drug prices and their fears are worsened by his unpredictability . The Trump administration , like the Obama administration before it , has said it wants to reduce the growth of spending on drugs under Part B of Medicare , which includes cancer drugs . A recent report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers said the existing reimbursement formula of Part B creates “ perverse incentives for prescribing higher - priced drugs ” . Some of the proposed alternatives to boost competition in this area sparked concern among pharmaceutical firms . Big Pharma blames “ middlemen ” – such as pharmacy benefit managers and insurers – for the high costs faced by consumers , adding that high - deductible health plans are another culprit . But whether the industry ’s long - established lobbying firepower will be effective remains to be seen . Ronny Gal , a securities analyst at Sanford C Bernstein & Company , said : “ Every other country has acted to control drug costs , and the view is that eventually the United States will have to do so . ”
Pharmaceutical firms have launched a major lobbying campaign to thwart any serious attempts at lowering prescription drug prices by President Donald Trump. In January’s State of the Union address and in New Hampshire in March, Trump vowed drug prices would drop “very substantially in the not-too-distant future”. He is due to lay out his pricing proposals in a presidential speech later this month. Big Pharma spent $171.5 million lobbying the federal government in 2017 – more than any other industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Spending by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main lobby for the industry, rose to $10 million in Q1 of this year, up from $8 million over the period in 2017. Pharmaceutical firms may have good reason for concern. During his presidential campaign, Trump seized on positions on drug prices long held by Democrats and opposed by his party and Big Pharma. He said that consumers should be able to import prescription drugs from some countries where brand-name prices were lower than the US and that Medicare bosses should negotiate prices with drug-makers. The public are likely to back Trump, with 80 percent of Americans thinking drug prices are unreasonably high, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Drug-makers have successfully challenged many previous bids to cut the payments they get from Medicare, Medicaid and other government schemes. However, they suffered a major setback in February when Congress made them give bigger discounts to Medicare patients. They are now concerned about the president’s plans to lower drug prices and their fears are worsened by his unpredictability. The Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, has said it wants to reduce the growth of spending on drugs under Part B of Medicare, which includes cancer drugs. A recent report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers said the existing reimbursement formula of Part B creates “perverse incentives for prescribing higher-priced drugs”. Some of the proposed alternatives to boost competition in this area sparked concern among pharmaceutical firms. Big Pharma blames “middlemen” – such as pharmacy benefit managers and insurers – for the high costs faced by consumers, adding that high-deductible health plans are another culprit. But whether the industry’s long-established lobbying firepower will be effective remains to be seen. Ronny Gal, a securities analyst at Sanford C Bernstein & Company, said: “Every other country has acted to control drug costs, and the view is that eventually the United States will have to do so.”