President announces extension of "most‑favored‑nation" drug discounts to state Medicaid programs

The president announced that his administration will "officially extend the benefits of our most favored nation agreements on prescription drug prices to state Medicaid programs all across the nation," saying the move will apply negotiated discounts directly to states and cover nearly 70 million people on Medicaid.

"This will save states billions and billions of dollars per year on drugs," the president said, adding that the deals he credited to negotiations with "26 of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies" include discounts of "60, 70, 80, and even 90%" for some medicines. Administration officials repeated the claim that every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had joined the program.

Abe Sutton, identified in the briefing as deputy administrator for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, described the day as "truly a historic day for the Medicaid program," saying lower drug costs give states budgetary flexibility to expand access and fund other priorities. He cited an annual savings figure of roughly $5.22 billion as part of the larger estimate the administration referenced.

The White House also directed consumers to an administration website, trumprx.gov, as a source of the negotiated prices and said states would receive the discounted rates through their Medicaid purchasing arrangements. The administration said the savings could be reinvested in rural health programs, long‑term care and other services.