By Rebecca St Fleur
Correspondent
The Trump administration launched TrumpRx on Feb. 5, a prescription drug website intended for consumers to find medicine at a cheaper rate.
The White House called it “a transformative new government platform that gives Americans direct access to dramatically lower prices on dozens of common, high-cost brand-name prescription drugs.”
The site does not sell drugs directly to consumers and instead just displays lower prices. It works as a portal so that users can find medication at a cheaper cost.
“Anyone can use TrumpRx, provided they have a prescription. For now, however, the platform doesn't accept insurance and is limited to patients who buy medications out of their own pocket,” reported CBS News.
Kaye Pestaina, the vice president and director of KFF's patient and consumer protections program, told CBS News, “It might be a good thing for some people, but for most folks they are paying less through insurance.”
Still, this may provide a benefit to some Americans. Some drugs, especially popular weight loss drugs, are not covered through insurance.
As of right now, users of TrumpRx have access to 43 different drugs from brand name manufacturers, that range from aiding conditions like diabetes to infertility. However, it does not list or provide any abortion related medications in its database, such as mifepristone and misoprostol.
When clicking on a potential product to buy on trumprx.gov, the site specifies, “This is an out-of-pocket price. If you have insurance, check your co-pay first—it may be even lower.”
“This launch represents the largest reduction in prescription drug prices in history by many, many times. And it's not even close. You're going to see numbers that you're not going to believe,” Trump affirmed in an event, according to PBS.
The New Republic isn’t as convinced of how much Trump’s website actually helps customers. “In reality, clicking on the link on TrumpRx redirects the user to the manufacturer’s website to see if the buyer qualifies for hardship discounts. As the user pointed out, these discounts are available regardless of whether TrumpRx is involved,” they reported.
“It's more about information than actually purchasing the medication,” said Dan Diamond, a reporter for The Washington Post. “But, notably, a lot of these drugs are older and there are generic alternatives for these medications. The pharmaceutical companies that are participating were not looking to give discounts on their bestsellers, their newest drugs. So, in many cases, these are drugs where there might have already been discounts available.”
