Latest news with #WestHealth
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Trump says executive order will slash the cost of prescription drugs
President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the cost of prescription drugs. Prices will be cut by as much as 80%, and some immediately, he said at a press conference. Trump teased the announcement on Sunday as one of the "most consequential" orders in US history. President Donald Trump announced sweeping action to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the US. At a White House press conference on Monday, he said an executive order would cut the cost of prescription drugs by between 59% and 80%, or "even 90%." "The United States will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma," Trump said. The order mandates that drug prices for US consumers be capped at the lowest price available in any comparable developed country, a price model known as the "most-favored-nation" rule. While the White House did not specify which medications would be subject to the new arrangements, the order sets a 30-day deadline for federal agencies to begin communicating pricing targets to pharmaceutical companies. If drugmakers fail to comply, the administration has laid out a series of escalating actions, including regulatory reforms, antitrust enforcement, and even potential revocations of approvals for drugs found to be "unsafe, ineffective, or improperly marketed." Trump said Americans paid 70% more for prescription drugs than they did in 2000, and roughly three times more than in some other developed countries. More than a third of US consumers cannot afford quality medical care, according to a survey conducted by Gallup and West Health and published in April. Trump teased the announcement in a Truth Social post on Sunday night, referring to it as one of the "most consequential" executive orders in American history. The comments prompted a flurry of X posts from Mark Cuban. In 2022, he launched Cost Plug Drugs, an online pharmacy that delivers drugs to consumers at a lower cost than Big Pharma. "Gotta be honest. The @realDonaldTrump EO on healthcare and in particular, drug pricing could save hundreds of billions," Cuban wrote. He outlined six ways the executive order could save consumers money, and ended the tweet by writing: "Put me in coach ! I'm here to help." Trump has signed more than 140 executive orders in his second term, with 100 coming within his first 100 days in office. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
12-05-2025
- Health
- Business Insider
Trump says executive order will slash the cost of prescription drugs
President Donald Trump announced sweeping action to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the US. At a White House press conference on Monday, he said an executive order would cut the cost of prescription drugs by between 59% and 80%, or "even 90%." "The United States will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma," Trump said. The White House did not specify which medications would be subject to the new arrangements. The order, which is yet to be published on the White House website, means the US would pay no more than the lowest price paid by any other developed nation for drugs. Trump said Americans paid 70% more for prescription drugs than they did in 2000, and roughly three times more than in some other developed countries. More than a third of US consumers cannot afford quality medical care, according to a survey conducted by Gallup and West Health and published in April. Trump teased the announcement in a Truth Social post on Sunday night, referring to it as one of the "most consequential" executive orders in American history. The comments prompted a flurry of X posts from Mark Cuban. In 2022, he launched Cost Plug Drugs, an online pharmacy that delivers drugs to consumers at a lower cost than Big Pharma. "Gotta be honest. The @realDonaldTrump EO on healthcare and in particular, drug pricing could save hundreds of billions," Cuban wrote. He outlined six ways the executive order could save consumers money, and ended the tweet by writing: "Put me in coach ! I'm here to help." Trump has signed more than 140 executive orders in his second term, with 100 coming within his first 100 days in office.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Record high can't afford health care: Gallup
The share of U.S. adults who have recently been unable to afford health care has reached a new high, according to report published by Gallup, with Black and Hispanic adults accounting for much of the increase. The Gallup report, conducted in partnership with the nonprofit West Health, found that 11 percent of U.S. adults — roughly 29 million — have recently been unable to afford or access quality health care. That marks a 3 percentage point increase since 2021. The analysis indicated, however, that there was no 'meaningful change' in the proportion of white U.S. adults or middle- to high-income earners in that time. 'The most notable increases since 2021 have occurred among Hispanic adults (up eight percentage points to 18%), Black adults (up five points to 14%,) and the lowest-income households, earning under $24,000 per year (up 11 points to 25%),' the report found. Adults who found themselves unable to access or afford quality health care were classified as 'cost desperate' for the purposes of the report. The percentage of adults who could be considered cost desperate increased across age ranges, though to varying degrees. Among those 65 and older the rate rose by 1 percentage point between 2021 and 2024, reaching 4 percent, while it climbed 3 points to 11 percent among those aged 50 to 64 and 4 points to 14 percent among those younger than 50. At the same time, the proportion of adults who could be classified as 'cost secure' — defined as individuals who have 'access to quality, affordable care and can pay for needed care and medicine' by Gallup and West Health — reached its lowest level. Only half of adults qualified for this category. Across demographics, the percentage of Hispanic adults considered to be cost secure fell the most, going from 51 percent to 34 percent. Among Black adults, the percentage of those who were cost secure fell by 13 percentage points down to 41 percent. The percentage of white adults in 2024 who were cost secure remained the same when compared to 2021. Gallup stated these findings are further indication of an increasing disparity in quality health care access across racial and ethnic groups. 'The erosion of cost security in healthcare comes with serious practical implications for the American public,' the Gallup report stated. 'Recent research from West Health and Gallup shows that 12% of U.S. adults report borrowing money to pay for healthcare last year, amounting to an estimated $74 billion borrowed, and nearly 60% of U.S. adults report feeling 'somewhat' or 'very' concerned about going into debt due to a major medical event.' The report comes as Republicans in Congress are eyeing likely cuts to Medicaid to pay for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. Medicaid covers roughly a fifth of Americans, and if federal funding is cut, states are unlikely to be able to make up the difference, as health policy research group KFF noted last month. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
02-04-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Record high can't afford health care: Gallup
The share of U.S. adults who have recently been unable to afford health care has reached a new high, according to new report published by Gallup, with Black and Hispanic adults accounting for much of the increase. The Gallup report, conducted in partnership with the nonprofit West Health, found that 11 percent of U.S. adults — roughly 29 million — have recently been unable to afford or access quality health care. That marks a three percentage point increase since 2021. The analysis indicated, however, that there was no 'meaningful change' in the proportion of white U.S. adults or middle to high-income earners in that time. 'The most notable increases since 2021 have occurred among Hispanic adults (up eight percentage points to 18%), Black adults (up five points to 14%,) and the lowest-income households, earning under $24,000 per year (up 11 points to 25%),' the report found. Adults who found themselves unable to access or afford quality health care were classified as 'cost desperate' for the purposes of the report. The percentage of adults who could be considered cost desperate increased across age ranges, though to varying degrees. Among those 65 and older the rate rose by one percentage point between 2021 and 2024, reaching four percent, while it climbed three points to 11 percent among those aged 50 to 64 and four points to 14 percent among those younger than 50. At the same time, the proportion of adults who could be classified as 'cost secure' — defined as 'individuals have access to quality, affordable care and can pay for needed care and medicine' by Gallup and West Health — reached its lowest level. Only half of adults qualified for this category. Across demographics, the percentage of Hispanic adults considered to be cost secure fell the most, going from 51 percent to 34 percent. Among Black adults, the percentage of those who were cost secure fell by 13 percentage points down to 41 percent. The percentage of white adults in 2024 who were cost secure remained the same when compared to 2021. Gallup stated these findings are further indication of an increasing disparity in quality health care access across racial and ethnic groups. 'The erosion of cost security in healthcare comes with serious practical implications for the American public,' the Gallup report stated. 'Recent research from West Health and Gallup shows that 12% of U.S. adults report borrowing money to pay for healthcare last year, amounting to an estimated $74 billion borrowed, and nearly 60% of U.S. adults report feeling 'somewhat' or 'very' concerned about going into debt due to a major medical event.' This report comes as Republicans in Congress are eyeing likely cuts to Medicaid to pay for for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. Medicaid covers roughly a fifth of Americans and if federal funding is cut, states are unlikely to be able to make up the difference, as KFF noted last month.
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
More Americans Can't Afford Medical Care, Poll Finds
It's not just the high price of eggs or the rising cost of housing that is contributing to Americans' unhappiness over the cost of living. Health care remains stubbornly unaffordable for millions of people, according to a new survey released Wednesday that underscores the struggle many people have in paying for a doctor's visit or a prescription drug — even before any talk of cutting government coverage. In the survey, 11 percent of people said they could not afford medication and care within the past three months, the highest level in the four years the survey has been conducted. More than a third of those surveyed, representing some 91 million adults, said if they were to need medical care, they would not be able to pay for it. The survey, conducted from mid-November to late December 2024 by West Health and Gallup, also showed widening disparities for Black and Hispanic adults and for those making the least amount of money. A quarter of those with an annual household income of less than $24,000 said they could not afford or access care within the past three months. 'The extent to which that has broadened and expanded really exposes how vulnerable these classes of individuals are,' Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup, said. White adults and high earners said they experienced no real change in their ability to pay. Eight percent of white adults reported being unable to afford care, the same share as in 2021, according to the survey. Higher premiums, the added cost of going to the doctor and the recent rollback in Medicaid coverage have all contributed to making it harder for people to afford care. Health care costs continue to rise, and dramatic cuts to Medicaid and the elimination of tax subsidies that lower the cost of Obamacare plans, as discussed by the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers, will likely exacerbate the problem, according to experts. 'It puts further pressure on a system that already has a financial toxicity that is pervasive, ' said Tim Lash, president of the West Health Policy Center. Many families are already struggling with medical debt, he said. Unlike doing without a new blender, people who forgo care can suffer or die, he said. While there have been significant improvements in the past 15 years under the Affordable Care Act, which significantly expanded Medicaid, 'we're not a country where health care is affordable,' said Sara R. Collins, a health economist who is vice president for health care coverage and access for the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund. Even when people have insurance, many do not have sufficient coverage to pay their medical bills. If the hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts go through that Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration are considering, the number of people who will not able to afford care is likely to climb, she said, as millions of people lose their coverage or replace it with less generous plans. 'We're getting back to levels that existed before the Affordable Care Act,' she said.
