Trump announces all 50 states joining Medicaid drug pricing model

President Trump announced that all 50 US states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico have applied to participate in a new Medicaid drug pricing model. According to Trump, the program aims to give lower drug prices to Medicaid programs. The Hill reports that 40 states and Puerto Rico have already signed agreements.

The program, referred to as the Medicaid GENEROUS model or most-favored-nation model, is expected to save the federal and state governments $64.3 billion, according to the White House. However, experts such as Brian Reid, principal at health consultancy Reid Strategic, question whether the changes will directly save consumers money, noting that Medicaid patients already pay low prices for their medicines.

The specifics of the program, including which drugs are included and how long the pricing deals will remain in place, are unclear as the content of the deals is not public. Some experts, like Peter Maybarduk of Public Citizen, have also expressed skepticism about the Trump administration's 10-year estimate of savings.

Brief written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour Health, The Hill, Semafor, Endpoints News, MedPage Today — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.