Modeling Shows Trump's Lowest-Price Rule Cutting Drug Access Abroad
Thomas Hwang's Lancet study finds drugmakers would delay or skip launches in lower-price countries to protect the US Medicare price.
- Thomas Hwang and coauthors modeled Trump's Most Favored Nation Medicare pricing policy for The Lancet.
- The policy pegs the US Medicare price to the lowest price a drugmaker charges abroad.
- To avoid dragging that price down, companies delay or skip launches in cheaper markets.
Why it matters: A price cap at home does not erase the cost; it moves the shortage onto whoever paid least.
The Lancet (Hwang et al., MFN Medicare pricing cohort study) ↗ · Sep 13, 20269/13/26