Trump promised cheaper drugs. Some prices dropped. Many others shot up.

HealthWatch Trump promised cheaper drugs. Some prices dropped. Many others shot up. .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-healthwatch.jpg'); } By Elisabeth Rosenthal, Arthur Allen May 7, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT / KFF Health News Add CBS News on Google Since his second term started, President Trump has announced, negotiated, or floated a flurry of initiatives aimed at taming the excesses of the pharmaceutical industry.No surprise. About 60% of American adults are "worried about being able to afford prescription drug costs for themselves or their families," a recent KFF nationwide poll showed. More than 80% consider the price of prescription drugs "unreasonable," and most support increased regulation to lower costs. Americans pay about three times as much as people in other countries for the same prescription drugs.Last July, Trump sent letters to 17 drugmakers, demanding they voluntarily lower drug prices. Then the president said he'd negotiated with more than a dozen pharmaceutical executives one by one at the White House. In December, he announced that he had compelled them to agree to "most favored nation" pricing on Medicaid, the government coverage for low-income Americans.Then came the unveiling of TrumpRx, a site where cash-paying patients could find discounted medicines, and a promise to speed biosimilar products — generic versions of certain high-priced specialty drugs — by cutting through FDA red tape.The scope of these promises remains uncertain. But it's certainly less than what the announcement promised, partly because many details of the negotiations, even which drugs are covered, are hazy.White House spokesperson Kush Desai did not answer queries about TrumpRx.Medicaid already buys drugs at deep discounts. And other patients may well have better options through commercial drug discount programs, which offer far more products, or through their insurance and associated drug company copayment cards. S...