LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — President Trump signed an executive order Monday that could lead to lower prescription drug prices for Americans who currently pay significantly more than people in other countries.
WATCH | How does this affect locals here in the valley?
The order sets a 30-day deadline for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to meet with prescription drugmakers to negotiate lower drug prices. The president's goal is to have more control on prices like other governments do and ultimately get Americans to pay the same price as people in other countries.
According to a 2024 RAND Health Care report, U.S. drug prices are 2.78 times higher than prices in 33 other wealthy countries.
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Matthew Cox, a local resident, says he and his family stock up on prescription drugs when visiting Mexico because of the significant price difference.
"It's just cheaper. It's also just faster care and you can get a lot of the high end name drugs a lot cheaper and quicker," Cox said.
When asked how much money he saves by getting drugs in Mexico, Cox was clear about the benefits.
"Oh, hundreds. A normal antibiotic [here] would be like $120. It's $20 there or less," he said.
Erika Luren, a nurse practitioner who works in family medicine, has seen firsthand how high prescription costs affect patients.
"I've worked in dermatology, I do weight loss, I do bioidentical hormones, and I can say for one, even in dermatology when they have insurance, some of those prescriptions were like $500 for an antibiotic," Luren said.
She noted that several drugs used for weight loss like Ozempic and Wegovy are costing clients thousands of dollars, making them unaffordable for many people.
"It was $1,500 a month out of pocket, so it's unaffordable for a lot of people and if people want to be healthy and we have these amazing medications and they can't afford them," Luren said.
Cox shared that his parents face similar challenges with medication costs.
"It's just like my parents. They have to get certain high medication that costs $1,500... $1,000 a month just to get certain medications," Cox said.
While Cox acknowledges that reducing prescription drug costs has been discussed by previous administrations, he remains hopeful about this latest effort.
"I think every president's tried this. If he can get it to the end, that'll be great," Cox said.
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Stephen J. Ubl, the president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, also weighed in on the issue. Ubl said Americans are paying too much for medicines because foreign countries aren't paying their fair share and middlemen are driving up prices.
He added that the U.S. is the only country where pharmacy benefit managers, insurers and hospitals take half of every dollar spent on medicines—often exceeding the price in Europe.
"Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers. It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardize the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America – threatening jobs, hurting our economy and making us more reliant on China for innovative medicines," Ubl said.
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