Dr. Oz to Newsmax: Trump's Lower Price Plan Helps Americans, Drugmakers

Pharmaceutical companies can remain profitable while Americans pay lower medication prices under President Donald Trump's plan for cutting costs, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, insisted on Newsmax Saturday.

"There are a lot of good reasons to have an executive order to address the inherent unfairness of American spending so much more than Europeans," Oz said on Newsmax's "America Right Now." "We pointed out that there's about a two to four times increase cost of medications in the United States compared to other competing companies that are similarly wealthy as we are. Does it make sense?"

He added that, as Trump pointed out, the United States is "literally subsidizing" the healthcare systems of other nations, meaning that "70% of the profits of the pharmaceutical industry are coming from Americans."

The pharmaceutical sector still does need room to continue the advances that are being made with medications, he said.

"Get other countries to pay more so we don't have to pay as much in America," Oz said. "If we do this the right way, pharmaceutical companies will continue to remain profitable. We want those workers and those researchers thriving, but we want to make sure the American people don't overpay for their medications."

However, countries in Europe and Asia have negotiated more effectively than has the United States, he said.

"If you let the private sector do things, they'll try to make money," he said. "That's what they're hired to do. And sometimes they'll make more money in one area than another, depending on how well folks are negotiating."

But there is a crisis in the United States, where two-thirds of those who go into bankruptcy are there because of healthcare issues, such as the price of medications, Oz said.

At the same time, the pharmaceutical sector doesn't "want to be the bad guys," said Oz.

The Trump administration has already been approached by half a dozen companies to negotiate, he added.

"They know this is not right," he said. "The question is, how do we correct what everyone [agrees] can be done better. Can we come up with better solutions? Again, we don't want to hurt the industry or destroy the industry. We just want to do something that's fairer for the American people."

Approvals on medications must also be streamlined to help bring down costs, said Oz.

"Right now, now pharmaceutical companies will get one in 20 of their best products actually to market where they can sell them, and oftentimes it takes them years and a lot of money to figure out that they have a product that doesn't work," he said. "So we can streamline that process, get the regulatory engine moving more rapidly."

Oz also spoke about an opinion piece he, Kennedy, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, calling on people who draw benefits from the country's welfare programs to work if they are able.

Beneficiaries should be willing to show that they are getting a job, an education, or volunteering when drawing Medicaid benefits, he said.

He added that there are work requirements in place for the SNAP program.

"To get food stamps, you have to at least try to get off the dole," he said. "The same should be the case for Medicaid. Most people will, by the way. They'll try to get a job they want to work. This will give them additional impetus. It shouldn't be a problem."

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