Trump and Kennedy Defend Impossible 600% Drug Price Cuts

President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended claims that the TrumpRx program reduced prescription drug prices by percentages ranging from 100% to 1,500%. During an April 22 Senate Finance Committee hearing and a subsequent Oval Office event announcing a deal with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Kennedy argued that these figures represent a different way of calculating savings. He claimed that if a drug price drops from $600 to $10, it constitutes a 600% reduction.

Democratic lawmakers challenged the mathematical validity of these claims. Senator Elizabeth Warren noted that a reduction exceeding 100% would imply pharmaceutical companies should pay consumers to take their medication. Senator Ron Wyden characterized the program as a fraud, while Senator Bernie Sanders called the administration's claims regarding global drug costs absurd. Mathematically, a price drop from $600 to $10 is a 98.3% reduction; any cut exceeding 100% would result in a negative price.

Other administration officials supported the narrative. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz suggested that reducing a $100 drug to $50 represents a 100% cut because the amount removed equals the amount remaining. White House spokesperson Kush Desai declined to explain the specific percentages, instead arguing that the president correctly identified that Americans pay significantly more for drugs than people in other wealthy nations.