Pittsburgh-area pharmacy owner reacts to Trump's executive order cutting drug prices
President Trump is making a move against Big Pharma.
On Monday, he signed an executive order setting a 30-day deadline for drug companies to lower prices on prescription drugs.
"It's great they're going to lower brand-name drug prices to help seniors out," said Erich Cushey, the owner of Curtis Pharmacy.
Cushey has four locations in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The executive order comes at a time when independent pharmacies are facing many challenges, including low reimbursements and more competition.
Cushey told KDKA what, if any, impact the order could have.
"The bigger issue in this whole system are the pharmacy benefit managers, which are the companies between us and your insurance plan. There's a lot of drug rebates in that system, upwards of 60, 70 percent of the list price," Cushey said. "So, if the president's going to remove rebates, it's a huge win for everybody."
Right now, it's unclear how the order will work. However, we do know that the president wants to price match with other countries, which reportedly are paying less compared to Americans.
"Starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the health care of foreign countries," the president said on Monday.
Cushey said this is just step one. He wants to see more.
"Fair and transparent drug prices," he said. "Remove the rebates, here's the price, here's the dispense fee for us to give you your medication. You know what we're paying, we know what we're getting paid and it's a lot less than everybody else."
It's unclear how quickly Americans will see lower prices and what authority the government has to direct drug pricing.
