Democrats want answers on cost-cutting prescription payment models abandoned by Trump

House Democrats want to know what the Trump administration plans to do after it rescinded a Biden-era executive order to study potential payment models for lowering prescription drug costs, looking to the acting heads of health agencies for answers.

A group of 51 House Democrats led by Rep. Shontel Brown (Ohio) wrote to Dorothy Fink, acting Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, and Jeff Wu, acting Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, asking for answers on how Trump's rescinding of Executive Order 14087 could affect the future of the prospective payment models developed by the Biden administration.

In 2022, former President Biden issued the executive order asking the HHS secretary to look into “new health care payment and delivery models that would lower drug costs and promote access to innovative drug therapies for beneficiaries enrolled in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.”

Trump rescinded the order on day one of his second term.

The executive order was meant to complement the cost-cutting measures included in the Inflation Reduction Act.

In response to Biden's order, HHS presented three different proposals:

Setting a $2 monthly copay limit on select generic drugs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries
Incentivizing manufacturers to “expedite and complete confirmatory clinical trials" to reduce CMS costs
Pooling bargaining power across multiple states when making outcomes-based agreements with manufacturers of high-cost specialty drug

Though these models were looked into by HHS, mone of them were ultimately implemented during Biden's term. Still, House Democrats said they're concerned about losing the potential cost-saving value of these proposals.

"Each model holds significant potential to address affordability, equity, and access to critical treatments. Understand that 3 in 10 adults report not taking prescribed medicine at some point in the past year due to the rising costs," wrote the lawmakers. "The revocation of this Executive Order will jeopardize these initiatives and obstruct the advancement of healthcare equity."

Brown said in a statement, "The American people deserve answers: Have these programs have been cancelled? And if so, what is Trump’s plan to lower, not raise drug prices?”

The lawmakers asked Fink and Wu how Trump's rescission of the executive order could affect the further development and implementation of the cost-saving models, how HHS and CMS plan to address any gaps created by the rescission and what measures will be implemented to address "gaps in access to innovative therapies that impact vulnerable communities."

Other Democratic House representatives who signed the letter include Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Bennie Thompson (Miss.) and Kweisi Mfume (Md.).

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