The MFN proposal isn’t tough on foreign freeloaders. It’s soft on math, hostile to innovation, and blind to the realities of drug development. It would make Medicaid more expensive, less effective, and more dangerous—not just to patients, but to the future of American medicine.
The real solution isn’t to copy the failures of other countries. It’s to lead with principle—and reform.
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate drug prices under threat of coercion, patent confiscation, or market exclusion.
Let’s be clear: MFN is price fixing. It is not market reform. It is not a tough negotiating tactic. Republicans who fall for this scheme are abandoning any pretense of free-market principles.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
Medicaid Is Not A Test Lab For Foreign Price Controls
Sally C. Pipes
The MFN proposal isn’t tough on foreign freeloaders. It’s soft on math, hostile to innovation, and blind to the realities of drug development. It would make Medicaid more expensive, less effective, and more dangerous—not just to patients, but to the future of American medicine.
The real solution isn’t to copy the failures of other countries. It’s to lead with principle—and reform.
In a desperate bid to claim fiscal discipline without touching entitlements, President Donald J. Trump is pushing congressional Republicans to adopt a “most favored nation” (MFN) drug pricing model for Medicaid. This policy would tie Medicaid reimbursements to the lowest prices paid in other developed countries—countries where government officials dictate drug prices under threat of coercion, patent confiscation, or market exclusion.
Let’s be clear: MFN is price fixing. It is not market reform. It is not a tough negotiating tactic. Republicans who fall for this scheme are abandoning any pretense of free-market principles.
Read the entire op-ed here:
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.