TrumpRx goes live in a bid to provide cheaper drugs

The White House late last week announced the launch of “TrumpRx”, a new government-run website designed to help Americans buy cheaper prescription drugs by eliminating the middlemen.

The site is part of the White House’s broader effort to show progress on affordability, as many Americans continue to feel squeezed by stubbornly high inflation that extends to healthcare costs.

How it works

TrumpRx doesn’t sell drugs directly. Instead, it serves as a search portal where users can enter the name of a medication or condition to see the lowest available drug prices offered directly by manufacturers, with lower cash prices negotiated by the federal gov’t.

• Upon selecting a medication, users are either routed to the drugmaker’s purchasing site or given coupon codes to use at participating pharmacies, with a valid prescription required for purchase.
• Manufacturers ship medications directly to patients, bypassing traditional pharmacy benefit managers, though insurance coverage typically can’t be applied at checkout.

But savings aren’t guaranteed

Some experts warn that buying medications through TrumpRx may be more expensive for Americans with strong insurance coverage, as purchases typically can’t be combined with insurance or applied toward deductibles.

Additionally, nearly half of the drugs listed on TrumpRx (20 out of 43) have a cheaper generic version available via other DTC sites like GoodRx or CostPlusDrugs, according to Anna Kaltenboeck, a drug pricing expert and president of Verdant Research.

Big picture: TrumpRx represents an attempt by the White House to ease public frustration with the US healthcare system, which has reached historic highs. Nearly a quarter of Americans (23%) say the healthcare system is in a “state of crisis,” the worst rating in Gallup polling history dating back to 1994, while an additional 47% of Americans say it has “major problems.”