The Latest: Trump unveils plan to reduce drug prices
The Latest on President Donald Trump's plan to reduce drug prices (all times local):
7:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump has unveiled his long-promised plan to bring down drug prices.
It would mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of "getting away with murder." Instead, the plan focuses on private competition and more transparency.
Trump calls his plan the "most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people." But it does not include his campaign pledge to use the massive buying power of the government's Medicare program to directly negotiate lower prices for seniors.
The administration will pursue a variety of old and new measures, but most of them could take months or years to implement, and none would stop drugmakers from setting sky-high initial prices.
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2:45 p.m.
President Donald Trump and his health secretary are laying out new proposals designed to reduce drug prices, including a requirement that drugmakers disclose the cost of their medicines in television advertisements.
The idea is one of many old and new proposals outlined in a White House blueprint unveiled in a long-awaited speech by the president. Under the plan, Health Secretary Alex Azar said the Food and Drug Administration would immediately examine requiring pricing information in pharmaceutical ads. Other proposals include speeding the process of switching prescription drugs to over-the-counter medicines.
The plan also would give private health insurers that run Medicare plans more negotiating power with drugmakers. But administration officials offered few specifics on how that would work.
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2:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump is launching what he says will be the "most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American people."
Trump is outlining his administration's long-awaited plan in a Rose Garden speech.
He says the plan will lead to tougher negotiations, more competition and much lower prices at the pharmacy counter and will begin to take effect soon.
The plan, however, is expected to mostly spare the pharmaceutical industry he previously accused of "getting away with murder."
It will instead focus on increasing private competition to lower pharmacy costs for consumers.
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10:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump is set to unveil his long-awaited plan for reducing drug prices.
The strategy will be outlined in a speech Friday. It comes after more than a year of promises to tackle pharmacy costs that are squeezing millions of Americans.
The administration is not expected to act on a key Trump campaign pledge to use the massive buying power of the federal government's Medicare program to directly negotiate lower drug prices for seniors.
Instead, administration officials are previewing a raft of old and new ideas to increase competition and improve transparency in the notoriously complex drug pricing system with the ultimate aim of wringing more savings for consumers.