The government website TrumpRx.gov gives Americans a new option for getting their medications. But it also adds to the complexity of a system that can make it extraordinarily difficult for people to compare prices and figure out where to find the least expensive drug.
Introduced on Thursday, the website does not sell prescription drugs. Instead, it allows people to look up their drugs and then navigate to buy them elsewhere, either from a major drug company or a pharmacy. The 43 drugs listed on the site have prices ranging from $3 to over $5,500.
TrumpRx does include warnings that the site may not be the best option to save money on prescriptions. Each product page advises: “If you have insurance, check your co-pay first — it may be even lower.”
Here’s information about the site and whether you could benefit from using it.
Can I use my insurance on TrumpRx?
For now, the website says its prices are for people paying with their own money, rather than going through insurance. But TrumpRx directs people to an Eli Lilly site where they can use their insurance to get Zepbound, the popular weight-loss drug.
Who will benefit from TrumpRx?
The site’s prices are aimed at people who lack insurance coverage for their medication, or would face higher out-of-pocket costs if they used their coverage.
That situation is most common for obesity and fertility drugs, which are often not covered by insurance. People without any health insurance could also benefit, though in many cases manufacturers offer drugs to this group for free or at steeply reduced prices.
Who may not benefit from TrumpRx?
Americans with insurance typically have coverage for most of the drugs on the site, often with low out-of-pocket costs. For example, if you have an insurance co-pay of $25 a month for Farxiga, a drug often used for diabetes, you would be paying too much at the TrumpRx price of $182.
“In the vast majority of cases, it’ll be cheaper to go through your insurance,” said Ameet Sarpatwari, who studies pharmaceutical policy at Harvard Medical School.
In particular, people on Medicaid would rarely benefit from using TrumpRx, unless they want obesity or fertility drugs, because they are eligible to pay just a few dollars or receive free prescriptions. Nearly all their drugs are covered.
The calculus is more complicated for people with insurance who have a deductible that requires them to pay the full cost of medicines up to a certain limit. Even if the TrumpRx price is lower than what you would pay through insurance next month, you may still be better off going through insurance. If you take several expensive drugs or expect high medical costs in the coming months, going through insurance may allow you to reach your deductible faster, and that would ultimately lower your overall spending for the year.
How can I compare prices?
Health insurance plans that provide drug coverage vary widely in the United States. Many offer online calculators to help you check what your out-of-pocket costs would be for your medication. If you’re not sure if your plan has such a tool, check with your human resources department, insurer or pharmacy benefit manager.
An even easier route may be to call your local pharmacist. “They have your insurance information and will be able to say: ‘This would be your co-pay amount, this would be your coinsurance amount,’” Dr. Sarpatwari said.
If you’re weighing whether to use insurance or TrumpRx, you should also consider any upcoming medical bills, and whether you have a high deductible or a high upper limit on your out-of-pocket costs. That’s easier said than done.
“It is difficult for patients to do the type of financial calculations they would need to do to figure out the best price,” said Rachel Sachs, a law professor who studies drug pricing at Washington University in St. Louis and worked as an adviser on prescription drug policy in the Biden administration. “There’s a lot of uncertainty involved.”
AstraZeneca, which offers four medications through TrumpRx, is trying to take that process out of patients’ hands to help them avoid paying too much. The company’s direct-buy site requires people to submit information about themselves and their doctor, and then steers them to either use their own money or go through insurance, depending on which is cheaper.
What medicines are listed on TrumpRx?
The drugs featured on the site are predominantly for common chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes, and for autoimmune conditions like arthritis. Others help people quit smoking, get pregnant, relieve menopause symptoms or treat bacterial and fungal infections. Many have become generic and are available from multiple competing manufacturers, not just the ones on TrumpRx.
Absent from TrumpRx were any drugs for cancer. Many cancer medications now cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Insurance generally covers most of the expense, though patients are often required to pay a substantial share out of pocket.
With the exception of the obesity drugs, most of the medications listed on the site are not major moneymakers for their manufacturers. Just five companies — Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca and EMD Serono — have medicines on TrumpRx. Pfizer’s products dominate the site, with 31 of the 43 initial listings.
Missing were any drugs from 11 major companies — including AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson — that have agreed to President Trump’s demand to sell their medications directly to consumers. The White House said it planned to add more drugs in the coming months.
Do I have to use TrumpRx to get the new prices?
No. You can go directly to the websites from Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca to get the same prices featured on TrumpRx.
And for Pfizer’s drugs, you can see the same listings on GoodRx, a price comparison website.
Can I get the TrumpRx price at my drugstore?
TrumpRx gives people the option of using in-person pharmacies for many of the listed medications. Pages feature a coupon — stylized with a golden eagle clutching a TrumpRx banner in its claws — that people can print out or pull up on their phones to present at the drugstore counter.
But it is not clear how many pharmacies will participate. The website says that drugstores are not obligated to charge the TrumpRx price.
Does TrumpRx offer the lowest price without my insurance?
Not necessarily.
For example, TrumpRx features Pfizer’s drug Azulfidine, for autoimmune conditions like ulcerative colitis, for $100. But the site doesn’t mention that the drug has gone generic and that Pfizer is just one of several manufacturers that sell it.
On Friday morning, a search on GoodRx turned up multiple generic versions of the drug for under $40 at pharmacies in major U.S. cities. Pfizer did not immediately return a request for comment.
Researchers who study drug pricing recommended that people seeking drugs with generic competition check prices on websites like GoodRx or the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, an online pharmacy started by the billionaire entrepreneur. People can also sometimes find very low out-of-pocket prices for generics at big retailers like Walmart.
Margot Sanger-Katz contributed reporting.
Rebecca Robbins is a Times reporter covering the pharmaceutical industry. She has been reporting on health and medicine since 2015.
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