Trump's Healthcare Agenda: Slashing Drug Prices, Production & Addiction

As Trump campaigns for 2024, his healthcare plans are slim, focusing on drugs. While he skirts policy debates, here's what his official campaign platform, Agenda47, proposes:

Bring Pharmaceutical Production Back to the US: Trump's EO of Aug 2020, Executive Order 13944, aims to ensure essential medicines are made in the US, citing the Defense Production Act. This comes as drug shortages hit record highs in 2023, incl. chemo drugs & ADHD meds. Biden plans to boost US manufacturing. Colleen Grogan, a Univ. of Chicago prof., cites insulin shortages, noting CA's move to contract its own insulin production.

Get Tough on Pharmaceutical Companies to Lower Drug Prices: Trump pledges to EO Big Pharma on Day One, claiming he'll ensure Americans pay the best price offered to foreign nations.

"Under my policy, the United States government will tell Big Pharma that we will only pay the best price they offer to foreign nations, who have been taking advantage of us for so long— the United States is tired of getting ripped off.”

Americans pay much higher drug prices than other countries, 2.78 times higher than OECD countries in 2022 per HHS. Trump's "Most Favored Nation" system was blocked in court. In contrast, the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which Big Pharma fights.

Eradicate the Drug Addiction Crisis in America: Trump proposes cracking down on cartels, imposing the death penalty on dealers, targeting China's fentanyl exports, and providing addiction treatment.

Drug addiction is an ongoing crisis, with opioid addiction evolving to include fentanyl & meth. The Sinaloa Cartel is a major player; two leaders were arrested in July. Trump's 2017 public health emergency declaration on opioids led to the bipartisan SUPPORT Act in 2018.. Biden boosts addiction treatment & Narcan access.

Sources: Agenda47, USA Today, Prof. Grogan Interview, White House, Gov. Newsom Insulin Announcement, HHS, KFF.