How federal changes are impacting prescription drug prices

Most people can't avoid paying for prescription drugs, and it's something President Trump is promising to make easier.

In his State of the Union, Mr. Trump said Americans who "have paid the highest of any nation for prescription drugs will now pay the lowest."

WCCO looked into recent federal changes to prices. 

People at St. Paul Corner Drug are used to dealing in numbers and it's an around-the-clock business.

"My family and my dad does it because we love it, but it is not for the faint of heart," Hildie Hoeschen, a nurse who works at the family pharmacy, said. "Our patients are part of our home. We are here to take care of them."

And lately, it's involved some sticker shock.

"I work with patients daily who are paying thousands of dollars in prescription costs," Hoeschen said. 

The president says he's addressing the problem.

"I am also lowering the cost of prescription drugs like it's never happened before," Mr. Trump said at his address to Congress.

The cost changes include:

• A former President Joe Biden-spurred program capping out of pocket for seniors' Medicaid Part D at $2,000.
• A drug pricing program. 
• TrumpRx: a direct-to-consumer drug ordering program.

WCCO got insight from Marta Wosińska, Ph.D., a nonpartisan expert in the field who spoke to the University of Pennsylvania.

"If you are uninsured or drugs that don't use insurance, like GLP-1 or fertility drugs, that could be a very significant benefit," Wosińska said.

She says if you have insurance, it may not be worth using TrumpRx because you won't be able to use it and pay down your deductible. 

Hoeschen says it's complicated for them, too.

"Patients don't tend to realize when they are picking up a prescription for 50 cents or 75 cents or $2, that's amazing, but don't realize that's all we are getting on that prescription," Hoeschen said.

The president says they will continue to negotiate prices so more people win.

WCCO found two examples on the TrumpRx website: The price of an IVF drug dropped from $316 dollars to $22 and a GLP-1 went from $1,349 down to $149.