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In 2024, President Trump campaigned on a range of real, everyday issues that resonated with the American public — chaos at our southern border, grocery prices, frustration around inflation, and government waste. But perhaps no issue traveled further than the Make America Healthy Again movement, which spoke to the already rapidly growing conversation happening online around concerns about our nation’s nutrition and healthcare systems that were seemingly working against us.
And frankly, it’s not far-fetched to believe the American pharmaceutical system is working against average Americans. Walk into any pharmacy to pick up a prescription, and you’ll see rising prices for vital, and often life-sustaining, medicine, from asthma inhalers to diabetes medication to cancer treatments.
Currently, pharmaceutical companies can set and change the prices of a product at any time after launch, leading to a rising number of Americans who struggle to afford their prescription medication. Even so, in the first month of 2025 alone, Big Pharma raised drug prices up to 10% on over 800 brand-name prescriptions. Making matters worse, these price jumps often come with no justification and vastly outpace inflation.
Price hikes come on top of U.S. prescription drug costs that are already more than three times higher than in other advanced nations – even for the exact same medications. For example, GLP-1 medications used to treat obesity and diabetes cost 400% to 1,300% more in the U.S. than in Europe. When buying a roundtrip plane ticket to London to access your medicine is cheaper than a month’s supply of vital medication here in the U.S., it’s clear our system is broken.
Even medicine that is commonly prescribed to those on Medicare was found to be three times higher in the U.S. than in other developed countries. And with Medicaid and Medicare programs accounting for more than one fifth of federal spending, there’s no doubt that these high prices are reflected in that amount and passed along to American taxpayers.
MAHA might be branded as a Republican issue, but frustration around Big Pharma taking advantage of consumers with nonsensical prices is real across the political spectrum. Fully 89% of Republicans, 84% of Democrats, and 78% of Independents believe that pharmaceutical companies’ profits are a "major factor" driving high drug costs.
Access to critical medications is vital for our nation to combat our current 42% obesity rate. When health needs are under control, it’s easier to focus on a healthy diet and exercise. But when so many medications are out of reach to purchase consistently, health conditions can spiral out of control, leading to even more serious issues and higher costs down the road.
Americans want to be healthy again – but were we ever healthy in the first place, with Big Pharma controlling prices and access to medicine? It’s time for President Trump and Congress to put an end to Big Pharma’s price gouging and protect American families from having to choose between financial ruin or unmet health concerns due to unaffordable medication.
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Matt Mackowiak is the president of Potomac Strategy Group.