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Today, the Trump Administration released “American
Patients First,” the President’s blueprint to lower drug
prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs. Below is the blueprint’s
introductory message from HHS Secretary Alex Azar:
The United States is first in the world in
biopharmaceutical investment and innovation. Combining our free
market system and generous public investment made America home to
the first chemotherapy treatments for cancer, the first effective
treatments for HIV, the first cure for Hepatitis C, and now, the
first therapies that turn our own immune systems against cancer.
But too often, this system has not put American
patients first. We have access to the greatest medicines in the
world, but access is meaningless without affordability.
When it comes to the cost of prescription drugs, our
healthcare system faces four major challenges: high list prices for
drugs; seniors and government programs overpaying for drugs due to
lack of the latest negotiation tools; out-of-pocket costs for
consumers; and foreign governments free-riding off of American
investment in innovation.
These problems have often been discussed, but gone
unaddressed. Under President Trump, that has now changed. This
blueprint is a historic plan for bringing down the high price of
drugs and reducing out-of-pocket costs for the American consumer.
The time to act is now: Not only are costs spiraling
out of control, but the scientific landscape is changing as well.
Securing the next generation of cures for the next generation of
American patients will require radical reforms to how our system
works. Our blueprint will bring immediate relief to American
patients while also delivering long-term reforms.
The men and women of the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) are looking at every facet of HHS’s programs,
authorities, and spending. Working with our partners in the private
sector, we will turn this vison into action, and thereby improve the
health and well-being of every American.
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