President Donald Trump and other federal officials are claiming that deals the administration has struck with pharmaceutical companies are “rescuing state budgets” or helping to “save Medicaid” by saving the program tens of billions of dollars on prescription drugs over a decade.
But experts say there are many unanswered questions about the scope of those deals that could limit the potential savings, including how many drugs they actually cover.
It’s also an exaggeration to suggest this program will single-handedly save state budgets, even under the rosiest of scenarios. According to the White House’s projections, the savings to states would initially come to less than 2% of what they spend on Medicaid annually, and diminish over time.
Trump has talked regularly about his efforts to lower prescription drug costs, arguing it’s unfair that the U.S. pays much higher prices for brand-name drugs than other wealthy countries.
