Is TrumpRx real or just for show?
Critics say the website is little more than a list of existing discounts that consumers could find elsewhere
With much fanfare, President Trump last night unveiled TrumpRx, a government website that promises “the world’s lowest prices on prescription drugs” by guiding patients to cheaper cash-pay options offered by pharmaceutical companies and discount providers.
The site relies on pricing technology from health care company GoodRx. It displays cash prices for a limited number of brand-name drugs and links users to external sites where the medications can be purchased directly. The platform does not sell drugs itself, does not provide delivery service and does not accept insurance.
Administration officials are promoting TrumpRx as part of the president’s broader effort to reduce U.S. drug prices. But drug-pricing experts cautioned the platform may have limited impact on affordability, particularly for insured patients.
“Trump has dressed up yet another corporate giveaway as a boon to patients. Most patients will do better through their insurance than through TrumpRx. Many patients without insurance will not be able to afford drugmakers’ still-high prices funneled through TrumpRx,” said Peter Maybarduk of Public Citizen.
“But drugmakers certainly will appreciate TrumpRx’s free promotion of their products, delivered with a false veneer of price accountability. TrumpRx is designed to help Big Pharma keep its prices high by diluting the bargaining power of insurance companies, weakening an important check on pharma,” he said.
How does it compare?
It’s difficult to compare Trump Rx to other programs because it really doesn’t do anything but direct consumers to other sites where they might find a better price for a specific prescription.
GoodRx and Amazon Pharmacy come closer to what casual observers might think TrumpRx is:
GoodRx is a private price-comparison and coupon platform that shows prices at tens of thousands of pharmacies and provides discount coupons that consumers can use at local or online pharmacies. It combines multiple discount sources and often reflects lower cash costs across many brand and generic drugs.
Amazon Pharmacy is an online pharmacy — it actually dispenses medications and fills prescriptions. It also offers prices that can be competitive with local retail pharmacies, especially for generics, and lets users use insurance or pay cash. Retail fulfillment and shipping are part of the service.
While the cash prices shown on TrumpRx are often substantially lower than drugs’ list prices, they can still total hundreds of dollars per month and are frequently higher than what insured patients pay after meeting deductibles. In addition, spending on drugs purchased directly through TrumpRx generally does not count toward insurance deductibles or annual out-of-pocket maximums.
Factors to consider
The website highlights percentage discounts by comparing cash prices to list prices, a practice critics say can be misleading. For example, injectable Wegovy carries a list price of about $1,349 per month, while TrumpRx lists cash prices ranging from $199 to $349 — a stated discount of 74% to 85%. However, insured patients often pay far less than list price once coverage kicks in.
TrumpRx currently lists pricing for 43 brand-name drugs, including asthma, fertility, and obesity treatments, from at least some of the pharmaceutical companies that have reached pricing agreements with the White House. Officials said additional drugs will be added over time.
GoodRx said it serves as a key integration partner for the platform, hosting self-pay prices for participating drugmakers and working with the Department of Health and Human Services to keep pricing information current through an API connection.
The site is open to any patient with a valid prescription, but discounted pricing is
limited to cash-paying consumers. The administration has said it may push for broader coverage in the future, noting a recent Federal Trade Commission settlement in which pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts agreed to provide covered access to TrumpRx if legal and regulatory changes allow.
Even as TrumpRx launches, drugmakers have already been expanding direct-pay models outside the platform. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have begun offering lower cash prices for their GLP-1 obesity drugs through company-run channels, reflecting a broader shift in how some high-cost medications reach consumers.
Who benefits?
Public Citizen’s Maybarduk said the TrumpRx effort benefits drug companies more than patients.
“TrumpRx also appears to be another example of this President’s repeated corruption. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. sits on the board of BlinkRx, a key business that may benefit financially from TrumpRx,” he said. “Getting serious about medicine affordability means getting serious about challenging Big Pharma. For all Trump’s talk, Big Pharma is getting a lot of special favors from this White House, while patients still are waiting.
“Real drug price reform doesn’t look like a website,” Maybarduk said.