Latest news with #2026midterms
Forbes
19 hours ago
- Health
- Forbes
Talk Is Cheap: Now Trump Must Deliver On His Healthcare Promises
President Donald Trump, accompanied by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ... More (R), holds up an executive order aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals by 30% to 80% during an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump has made big promises about fixing American healthcare. Now comes the moment that separates talk from action. With the 2026 midterms fast approaching and congressional attention soon shifting to electoral strategy, the window for legislative results is closing quickly. This summer will determine whether the administration turns promises into policy or lets the opportunity slip away. Trump and his handpicked healthcare leaders — HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary — have identified three major priorities: lowering drug prices, reversing chronic disease and unleashing generative AI. Each one, if achieved, would save tens of thousands of lives and reduce costs. But promises are easy. Real change requires political will and congressional action. Here are three tests that Americans can use to gauge whether the Trump administration succeeds or fails in delivering on its healthcare agenda. Americans pay two to four times more for prescription drugs than citizens in other wealthy nations. This price gap has persisted for more than 20 years and continues to widen as pharmaceutical companies launch new medications with average list prices exceeding $370,000 per year. Today, nearly 30% of U.S. prescriptions go unfilled due to cost, leaving millions without the medications they need. One key reason for the disparity is a 2003 law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating prices directly with drug manufacturers. Although the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 granted limited negotiation rights, the initial round of price reductions did little to close the gap with other high-income nations. President Trump has repeatedly promised to change that. In his first term, and again in May 2025, he condemned foreign 'free riders,' promising, 'The United States will no longer subsidize the healthcare of foreign countries and will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging.' To support these commitments, the president signed an executive order titled 'Delivering Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients.' The order directs HHS to develop and communicate MFN price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers, with the hope that they will voluntarily align U.S. drug prices with those in other developed nations. Should manufacturers fail to make significant progress toward these targets, the administration said it plans to pursue additional measures, such as facilitating drug importation and imposing tariffs. However, implementing these measures will most likely require congressional legislation and will encounter substantial legal and political challenges. The pharmaceutical industry knows that without congressional action, there is no way for the president to force them to lower prices. And they are likely to continue to appeal to Americans by arguing that lower prices will restrict innovation and lifesaving drug development. But the truth about drug 'innovation' is in the numbers: According to a study by America's Health Insurance Plans, seven out of 10 of the largest pharmaceutical companies spend more on sales and marketing than on research and development. And if drugmakers want to invest more in R&D, they can start by requiring peer nations to pay their fair share — rather than depending so heavily on U.S. patients to foot the bill. If Congress fails to act, the president has other tools at his disposal. One effective step would be for the FDA to redefine 'drug shortages' to include medications priced beyond the reach of most Americans. That change would enable compounding pharmacies to produce lower-cost alternatives just as they did recently with GLP-1 weight-loss injections. If no action is taken, however, and Americans continue paying more than twice as much as citizens in other wealthy nations, the administration will fail this crucial test. Obesity has become a leading health threat in the United States, surpassing smoking and opioid addiction as a cause of death. Since 1980, adult obesity rates have surged from 15% to over 40%, contributing significantly to chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and multiple types of cancers. A major driver of this epidemic is the widespread consumption of ultra-processed foods: products high in added sugar, unhealthy fats and artificial additives. These foods are engineered to be hyper-palatable and calorie-dense, promoting overconsumption and, in some cases, addictive eating behaviors. RFK Jr. has publicly condemned artificial additives as 'poison' and spotlighted their impact on children's health. In May 2025, he led the release of the White House's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, which identifies ultra-processed foods, chemical exposures, lack of exercise and excessive prescription drug use as primary contributors to America's chronic disease epidemic. But while the report raises valid concerns, it has yet to produce concrete reforms. To move from rhetoric to results, the administration will need to implement tangible policies. Here are three approaches (from least difficult to most) that, if enacted, would signify meaningful progress: These measures will doubtlessly face fierce opposition from the food and agriculture industries. But if the Trump administration and Congress manage to enact even one of these options — or an equivalent reform — they can claim success. If, instead, they preserve the status quo, leaving Americans to decipher nutritional fine print on the back of the box, obesity will continue to rise, and the administration will have failed. The Trump administration has signaled a strong commitment to using generative AI across various industries, including healthcare. At the AI Action Summit in Paris, Vice President JD Vance made the administration's agenda clear: 'I'm not here this morning to talk about AI safety ... I'm here to talk about AI opportunity.' FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary has echoed that message with internal action. After an AI-assisted scientific review pilot program, he announced plans to integrate generative AI across all FDA centers by June 30. But internal efficiency alone won't improve the nation's health. The real test is whether the administration will help develop and approve GenAI tools that expand clinical access, improve outcomes and reduce costs. To these ends, generative AI holds enormous promise: These breakthroughs aren't theoretical. They're achievable. But they won't happen unless federal leaders facilitate broad adoption. That will require investing in innovation. The NIH must provide funding for next-generation GenAI tools designed for patient empowerment, and the FDA will need to facilitate approval for broad implementation. That will require modernizing current regulations. The FDA's approval process wasn't built for probabilistic AI models that rely on continuous application training and include patient-provided prompts. Americans need a new, fit-for-purpose framework that protects patients without paralyzing progress. Most important, federal leaders must abandon the illusion of zero risk. If American healthcare were delivering superior clinical outcomes, managing chronic disease effectively and keeping patients safe, that would be one thing. But medical care in the United States is far from that reality. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die annually from poorly controlled chronic diseases, medical errors and misdiagnoses. If generative AI technology remains confined to billing support and back-office automation, the opportunity to transform American healthcare will be lost. And the administration will have failed to deliver on this promise. When I teach strategy at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, I tell students that the best leaders focus on a few high-priority goals with clear definitions of success — and a refusal to accept failure. Based on the administration's own words, grading the administration on these three healthcare tests will fulfill those criteria. However, with Labor Day just months away, the window for action will soon close. The time for presidential action is now.
Japan Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Will ex-aide Musk leave a stink in the White House?
U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill has careened into an Elon Musk-shaped brick wall, complicating its passage into law and risking a schism between the most powerful man in the world and the wealthiest. Trump's "big, beautiful bill" — the centerpiece of his domestic agenda — could define his second term and make or break Republican prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. But the package is getting a rough ride in Congress over proposals to fund an extension of his 2017 tax cuts by piling on debt and cutting social welfare for the poorest Americans. Enter tech billionaire Musk, who dropped a nuclear bomb on the 1,100-page blueprint at a crucial stage in negotiations Tuesday, calling it a "disgusting abomination." And on Wednesday he called for Republicans to "kill the bill," and for an alternative plan that "doesn't massively grow the deficit." In its latest estimate released Wednesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would add $2.4 trillion to U.S. debt by 2034. Musk, who last week ended his brief advisory tenure as Trump's cost-cutter-in-chief, tore into the bill in a prolonged denouncement. The South African-born tycoon has voiced concerns before, but his language was much more combative, coming across as a declaration of war on the Republican Party, if not Trump himself. The White House brushed off the criticism, saying Trump "already knows where Elon Musk stood," but the remarks will likely have gotten under the president's skin. 'Lennon and McCartney' The stakes could hardly be higher for Trump, who has made clear, with signature hyperbole, that he sees his bill as "arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed." He has yet to respond personally to Musk's social media rant — sustained over six hours and 13 posts on Tuesday and still going well into Wednesday. But Washington watchers aren't necessarily expecting a public falling-out. Behind the scenes, a careful circling of the wagons is under way, with pro-Trump pundits under orders to refrain from trashing Musk and to instead frame his broadside as what Politico called "principled self-interest." Still, analysts say there may be choppier waters ahead. "It's the Lennon and McCartney of modern politics. Two egos, one spotlight, and a fragile alliance built on mutual benefits," said Evan Nierman, the founder and CEO of global crisis PR firm Red Banyan. "The moment either one sees more upside in conflict than cooperation, the breakup goes public." But political consultant and former Senate aide Andrew Koneschusky, a key player in negotiations over Trump's 2017 tax cuts, believes the Republican leader has nothing to gain by biting back. "Musk has more money. Musk's megaphone, X, is bigger than Trump's. And Musk was deeply embedded in the administration for months," he said. "There's no telling what Musk heard or saw that could be embarrassing or problematic for the administration if the two were to go to war." 'Bromance' Musk — who has cash to spare for his political adventures, including $280 million lavished on Trump's election campaign — slammed the Republicans who cleared the bill for Senate consideration and threatened to have their jobs in the midterms. And the de facto leader of America's "tech bro" community demonstrated his political firepower with a single tweet in December that blew up a government funding bill that had enjoyed bipartisan support. His take on the deficit implications of Trump's proposals is evidenced by copious independent research and he was immediately backed by some fiscal hawks in the Senate. Continued interventions by Musk could be an ongoing headache for Trump, as he bids to shepherd his policy priorities through razor-thin Republican majorities in Congress. But cheerleaders of the package — and independent analysts — believe the Tesla magnate may discover that his celebrity in Trumpworld relies on the say-so of its mercurial chieftain. "Musk may have had influence in December when his bromance with Trump was in full bloom," said Donald Nieman, a political analyst and professor at Binghamton University in New York state. "But his break with Trump and his massive unpopularity with voters makes it easy for lawmakers to ignore him. If anything, it helps Trump by distancing him from a man who has become a pariah."
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
A lingering Musk: Will ex-aide Elon get up Trump's nose?
Donald Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill has careened into an Elon Musk-shaped brick wall, complicating its passage into law and risking a schism between the most powerful man in the world and the wealthiest. The US president's "big, beautiful bill" -- the centerpiece of his domestic agenda -- could define his second term and make or break Republican prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. But the package is getting a rough ride in Congress over proposals to fund an extension of his 2017 tax cuts by piling on debt and cutting social welfare for the poorest Americans. Enter tech billionaire Musk, who dropped a nuclear bomb on the 1,100-page blueprint at a crucial stage in negotiations Tuesday, calling it a "disgusting abomination." And on Wednesday he called for Republicans to "kill the bill," and for an alternative plan that "doesn't massively grow the deficit." In its latest estimate released Wednesday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would add $2.4 trillion to US debt by 2034. Musk, who last week ended his brief advisory tenure as Trump's cost-cutter-in-chief, tore into the bill in a prolonged denouncement. The South African-born tycoon has voiced concerns before, but his language was much more combative, coming across as a declaration of war on the Republican Party, if not Trump himself. The White House brushed off the criticism, saying Trump "already knows where Elon Musk stood," but the remarks will likely have gotten under the president's skin. - 'Lennon and McCartney' - The stakes could hardly be higher for Trump, who has made clear, with signature hyperbole, that he sees his bill as "arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed." He has yet to respond personally to Musk's social media rant -- sustained over six hours and 13 posts on Tuesday and still going well into Wednesday. But Washington watchers aren't necessarily expecting a public falling-out. Behind the scenes, a careful circling of the wagons is underway, with pro-Trump pundits under orders to refrain from trashing Musk and to instead frame his broadside as what Politico called "principled self-interest." Still, for analysts contacted by AFP, there may be choppier waters ahead. "It's the Lennon and McCartney of modern politics. Two egos, one spotlight, and a fragile alliance built on mutual benefits," said Evan Nierman, the founder and CEO of global crisis PR firm Red Banyan. "The moment either one sees more upside in conflict than cooperation, the breakup goes public." But political consultant and former Senate aide Andrew Koneschusky, a key player in negotiations over Trump's 2017 tax cuts, believes the Republican leader has nothing to gain by biting back. "Musk has more money. Musk's megaphone, X, is bigger than Trump's. And Musk was deeply embedded in the administration for months," he told AFP. "There's no telling what Musk heard or saw that could be embarrassing or problematic for the administration if the two were to go to war." - 'Bromance' - Musk —- who has cash to spare for his political adventures, including $280 million lavished on Trump's election campaign -- slammed the Republicans who cleared the bill for Senate consideration and threatened to have their jobs in the midterms. And the de facto leader of America's "tech bro" community demonstrated his political firepower with a single tweet in December that blew up a government funding bill that had enjoyed bipartisan support. His take on the deficit implications of Trump's proposals is evidenced by copious independent research and he was immediately backed by some fiscal hawks in the Senate. Continued interventions by Musk could be an ongoing headache for Trump, as he bids to shepherd his policy priorities through razor-thin Republican majorities in Congress. But cheerleaders of the package -- and independent analysts contacted by AFP -- believe the Tesla magnate may discover that his celebrity in Trumpworld relies on the say-so of its mercurial chieftain. "Musk may have had influence in December when his bromance with Trump was in full bloom," said Donald Nieman, a political analyst and professor at Binghamton University in New York state. "But his break with Trump and his massive unpopularity with voters makes it easy for lawmakers to ignore him. If anything, it helps Trump by distancing him from a man who has become a pariah."
