Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First
Record date: 2025-04-18
( printed page 16441) Executive Order 14273 of April 15, 2025 Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1 . Purpose . My first term included numerous significant actions, including some of the most aggressive in recent history, to deliver lower prescription drug prices to American patients. The message was clear: no longer would the executive branch sit idly by as pharmaceutical manufacturers
What this record contains
- Federal Register document
- 2025-06837
- Publication date
- 2025-04-18
- Citation
- 90 FR 16441
- Issuing office
- Executive Office of the President
Official record excerpt
( printed page 16441) Executive Order 14273 of April 15, 2025 Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1 . Purpose . My first term included numerous significant actions, including some of the most aggressive in recent history, to deliver lower prescription drug prices to American patients. The message was clear: no longer would the executive branch sit idly by as pharmaceutical manufacturers charged patients in our Nation more than those in other countries for the exact same prescription drugs, often made in the exact same places. These actions included encouraging the development of generic and biosimilar alternatives to higher cost brand name prescription drugs and biologics to harness competitive forces and increase access to affordable medicines. The United States also, for the first time, established a pathway to expand access to lower cost drugs imported from outside of the country. Reform efforts ensured that Government-mandated discounts were passed through to patients instead of being retained by middlemen. New price transparency rules were promulgated to allow patients, doctors, and employers to see the actual cost of prescription drugs before purchase. Insulin copayments were capped for Medicare beneficiaries, and manufacturers, instead of patients and taxpayers, were forced to foot the bill through the provision of larger discounts. I also called on the Congress to come to the table to help craft sustainable solutions that would promote innovation and affordable access for the long-term. When the Congress refused, I proposed the test of an innovative new payment mechanism that would prevent drug manufacturers from charging our patients much higher prices than those found abroad. Combined, these bold actions were delivering real savings for American patients and set the foundation to dramatically narrow the price disparity between the United States and foreign nations over time. Unsurprisingly, the Biden Administration reversed, walked back, or neglected many of these initiatives, undoing the progress made for American patients. The Biden Administration then signed into law the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, which included the Medicare Prescription Drug Negotiation Program. While this program has the commendable goal of reducing the drug prices Medicare and its beneficiaries pay, its administratively complex and expensive regime has thus far produced much lower savings than projected. Further, accompanying changes to the Medicare Part D program led to inflated premiums and diminished coverage choices for seniors, prompting a taxpayer-funded bailout of insurance companies offering Part D plans. Finally, the program imposes price controls on small molecule prescription drugs, usually in tablet or capsule form, 4 years earlier than on large molecule biological products. Known as the “pill penalty,” this discrepancy threatens to distort innovation by pushing investment towards expensive biological products, which are often indicated to treat rarer diseases, and away from small molecule prescription drugs, which are generally cheaper and treat larger patient populations. The American people deserve better. It is time to restore the progress our Nation made in my first term to deliver lower prescription drug prices by putting Americans first and making America healthy again. ( printed page 16442) Sec. 2 . Policy . It is the policy of the United States that Federal health care programs, intellectual property protections, and safety regulations are optimized to provide access to prescription drugs at lower costs to American patients and taxpayers. Sec. 3 . Improving upon the Inflation Reduction Act . (a) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), consistent with sections 1191 to 1198 of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1320f-1320f-7 ) and other applicable law, shall propose and seek comment on guidance for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program for initial price applicability year 2028 and manufacturer effectuation of maximum fair price under such program in 2026, 2027, and 2028. The guidance shall improve the transparency of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, prioritize the selection of prescription drugs with high costs to the Medicare program, and minimize any negative impacts of the maximum fair price on pharmaceutical innovation within the United States. (b) Within 180 days of the date
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