Gallego Continues to Push for Answers on Trump’s Pharmaceutical Deals

In letters to the drug companies who recently inked deals with President Trump, Senator Gallego calls for more details and greater transparency

WASHINGTON - In response to President Trump's recent announcement that nine drugmakers agreed to direct-to-consumer pricing through the TrumpRx drug purchasing platform, and the implementation of "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) pricing in Medicaid, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) called on the drug manufacturers to clarify the agreement and provide the public with details on the arrangement.

"It raises concern that to date, the public has been provided with only limited details, despite the significance of this arrangement for millions of patients, and that in return for this arrangement [these companies] will get a three-year exemption from Section 232 tariffs," Senator Gallego wrote in the letters to the drug manufacturers.

In the letters, Senator Gallego asks the drug manufacturers the following questions:

• Under the proposed model, which countries and pricing metrics will be used in the MFN formula?
• Will [the company] commit to transparency in how MFN prices are calculated, and disclose how the final MFN price is calculated, whether discounts, rebates, or pricing agreements are incorporated?
• How frequently will MFN comparator pricing be updated? Will changes be made automatically as international pricing data changes?
• What is the full scope of [your company's] drugs subject to MFN pricing in Medicaid?
• How will MFN pricing in Medicaid affect Medicaid Best Price and the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program?
• Will [your company] commit to not shifting costs to other markets? Do you commit to not recoup any revenue reductions by raising prices in private insurance markets, employee-sponsored plans, or Medicare?
• Are there plans for [the company] to expand MFN or TrumpRx-style pricing to the commercial insurance or Medicare Part D markets?
• Given that Medicaid beneficiary cost-sharing on prescription drugs is generally limited, please explain how beneficiaries will see savings under this arrangement.

As currently described, this model would require patients to bypass their insurance and pay cash for medications - often at high out-of-pocket costs. Given that many insured patients already have lower copays or coinsurance than the proposed TrumpRx discounts, it is unclear how this platform would provide meaningful relief. In fact, it may increase costs for patients," Senator Gallego concludes the letters.

Senator Gallego sent the letters to the nine companies included in President Trump's most recent announcement. These companies include:

• Amgen
• Boehringer Ingelheim
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Genentech
• Gilead Sciences
• GSK
• Novartis
• Merck
• Sanofi

These letters build on Senator Gallego's efforts to get more information on how these deals will impact Americans. He recently sent letters to Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, and also called on Pfizer and AstraZeneca to clarify similar questions about the companies' pricing metrics that will be used in the MFN formula and what the full scope of drugs subject to MFN pricing in Medicaid will be.