Donald Trump promises to order that U.S. pays same price other nations do for some drugs

President Trump plans to sign an executive order to lower medication costs by tying Medicare prices to other countries

President Donald Trump says he'll sign an executive order on Monday (May 12, 2025) that, if implemented, could bring down the costs of some medications — reviving a failed effort from his first term on an issue he's talked up since even before becoming President.

The order Mr. Trump is promising will direct the Department of Health and Human Services to tie what Medicare pays for medications administrated in a doctor's office to the lowest price paid by other countries.

“I will be instituting a MOST FAVOURED NATION'S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World,” the President posted on Sunday on his social media site, pledging to sign the order on Monday [May 12] morning at the White House.

“Our Country will finally be treated fairly, and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before,” Mr. Trump added.

His proposal would likely only impact certain drugs covered by Medicare and given in an office — think infusions that treat cancer, and other injectables. But it could potentially bring significant savings to the government, although the “TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS” Mr. Trump boasted about in his post may be an exaggeration.

Medicare provides health insurance for roughly 70 million older Americans. Complaints about U.S. drug prices being notoriously high, even when compared with other large and wealthy countries, have long drawn the ire of both parties, but a lasting fix has never cleared the Congress.

Under the planned order, the federal government would tie what it pays pharmaceutical companies for those drugs to the price paid by a group of other, economically advanced countries — the so-called “most favoured nation" approach.