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President Donald Trump announced sweeping action to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the US.
At a White House press conference on Monday, he said an executive order would cut the cost of prescription drugs by between 59% and 80%, or “even 90%.”
“The United States will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma,” Trump said.
The White House did not specify which medications would be subject to the new arrangements.
The order, which is yet to be published on the White House website, means the US would pay no more than the lowest price paid by any other developed nation for drugs.
Trump said Americans paid 70% more for prescription drugs than they did in 2000, and roughly three times more than in some other developed countries.
More than a third of US consumers cannot afford quality medical care, according to a survey conducted by Gallup and West Health and published in April.
Trump teased the announcement in a Truth Social post on Sunday night, referring to it as one of the “most consequential” executive orders in American history.
The comments prompted a flurry of X posts from Mark Cuban. In 2022, he launched Cost Plug Drugs, an online pharmacy that delivers drugs to consumers at a lower cost than Big Pharma.
“Gotta be honest. The @realDonaldTrump EO on healthcare and in particular, drug pricing could save hundreds of billions,” Cuban wrote.
He outlined six ways the executive order could save consumers money, and ended the tweet by writing: “Put me in coach ! I’m here to help.”
Trump has signed more than 140 executive orders in his second term, with 100 coming within his first 100 days in office.
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