Trump's Historic Pharma Victory: 14 Companies Slash Drug Prices & Insurance Companies Are Next

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Good Tuesday morning, Patriots. Welcome back to O'Connor's Right Stand. I'm your host, John O'Connor, software programmer by day, conservative choose seeker by night. So first off, Merry Christmas, Patriots. I hope you get some real quality time with friends and family over the next few days. And just as a PSA, this will be the only O'Connor's Right Stand podcast this week. Right Stand will be back with you on Tuesday next week. And don't forget, O'Connor's Quick Strike is

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we will have an episode out tomorrow on Christmas Eve. That being said, let's move on as we have a pretty lengthy episode to dive into. Today, we are talking about President Trump doing something Obama promised, Biden promised, Bernie Sanders screamed about for 25 years, and nobody delivered until now. Last Thursday, December 19th, Trump stood in the Roosevelt Room with 14 pharmaceutical company CEOs

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and announced the biggest victory for healthcare affordability in American history. Blood thinners dropping from $750 to $16. Diabetes medications cut 70%. Asthma inhalers reduced 654%. But here's what the media isn't telling you. Trump's not done. The pharmaceutical deals? That's phase one. Phase two is coming.

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Trump's calling a meeting with America's largest health insurance company CEOs, and he's telling them the same thing. Lower your prices or face the consequences. Today, I'm walking you through Trump's three-phase healthcare offensive. What's been accomplished? What's coming next? And why Democrats are going nuts? Here's the question I want you thinking about. If Trump can force 14,

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of the world's 17 largest pharmaceutical companies to slash prices in six months, why couldn't Obama, Biden, Bush, or Bernie do it in 40 years? The right stand starts now.

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Patriots, here's the problem. Americans pay two to three times more for prescription drugs than any other developed country. Same drug, same manufacturer, same factory, but in Germany or France, a fraction of the price. A 2024 Rand Corporation study found US prescription drug prices are three times higher than overseas. For branded drugs, the ones people actually need, four times higher.

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A medication costing a Canadian $100 costs an American $400 for the exact same pill. Why? Because America is the only country where the government is prohibited from negotiating drug prices. European governments tell pharmaceutical companies, here's what we'll pay, take it or leave it. And companies take it. But in America, the pharmaceutical industry wrote,

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The law saying Medicare can't negotiate, that insurance companies can pass any costs to consumers. So American patients, your families, are subsidizing drug development for the entire world. We are paying for research, manufacturing, and marketing. Europeans get the benefits as pennies on the dollar. RFK Jr., Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, said it perfectly.

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We were paying for all of the innovation in this country, and yet the rest of the world was free riding on it. Think about it. America develops a cancer drug costing $2 billion to bring it to market. Europeans get it for 20 bucks a pill. Americans pay 200 bucks a pill to make up the difference. Does that sound fair? And pharmaceutical companies claim this is necessary, that if we lower drug prices, innovation will stop.

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that people will die. That's BS. You know what pharmaceutical companies spend more on than research? Advertising. Billions convincing Americans to ask your doctor about medications they likely don't need. Billions lobbying Congress. Billions buying off politicians. Who benefited? Drug companies made trillions. Insurance companies made trillions.

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Pharmacy benefit managers made trillions and American families? Well, they went bankrupt paying for insulin. They rationed medications. They chose between prescriptions and groceries. How many Americans do you know that who have struggled to afford medications? Who've skipped doses because they can't afford the refill? I'm willing to bet you know at least one. And Democrats, they saw this, they knew it, and they did.

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nothing. Obama promised lower drug prices, then passed Obamacare, written by insurance companies and pharmaceutical lobbyists, and prices went up. Biden promised lower drug prices, spent four years taking pharmaceutical donations. Prices went up. Bernie Sanders screamed about drug prices for 25 freaking years. You know how many he lowered? Zero. But Trump

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Six months into his second term, 14 pharmaceutical companies signed up, prices dropping hundreds of percent, and a website launching January where Americans buy medications directly from manufacturers at the lowest prices in the world. The question isn't, can this be done? Trump proved it. The question is, why did every other politician say they'd it and not do it? Because

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They were bought and paid for. Trump isn't. Alright, let's talk about what Trump has actually accomplished. Because the media keeps saying it's just talk or we'll see if it works. Wrong. This is already working. On May 12th, Trump signed an executive order implementing most favored nation pricing. The concept is simple. Whatever the lowest price for a drug is anywhere in the developed world,

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That's the price Americans pay. If Germany pays 20 bucks for a medication and America pays $200, Americans now pay $20. Period. The pharmaceutical industry freaked out. Their lobbying group, PHRMA, called it foreign-first pricing and said it would jeopardize investment in America. Translation? We can't rip off Americans anymore and we are mad about it. Trump didn't care.

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On July 31st, he sent letters to the CEOs of 17 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. And the letter said, now, brand name drug prices in the United States are up to three times higher on average than anywhere else for the same identical medicines. This unacceptable burden on hardworking American families ends with my administration. And then Trump gave them a deadline, September 29th, 2025.

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Agree to lower prices or face tariffs. Agree to invest in American manufacturing or face tariffs. Agree to most favored nation pricing or face tariffs. You know what happened? They caved. September 13th, Pfizer signed the first deal. One of the largest pharmaceutical companies on earth. They agreed to sell medications to Medicaid at the lowest prices in the world.

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They agreed to offer medications on a new government website, TrumpRx.gov, at massive discounts. They committed $70 billion to U.S. manufacturing. In return, Trump gave them a three-year exemption from pharmaceutical tariffs. October 10th, AstraZeneca signed. The largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the UK. Same deal, most favored nation pricing, discounts on TrumpRx.

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manufacturing investments. October 16th, EMD, Serono. November 6th, Eli Lilly and Nova Nordisk. The companies that make the weight loss drugs, Wegovi, Azempic and Zepbound. Those drugs cost over $1,000 per month. Under Trump's deals, $350 through Trump Rx. Medicare patients, $50 copay. And then came December 9th,

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The big announcement. Trump got nine more companies to sign in one day. Amgen, Bristol-Meyer Squibb, Beringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi. That's 14 of the world's 17 largest pharmaceutical companies. Signed, done, locked in. And Trump said at the announcement,

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This represents the greatest victory for patient affordability in the history of American healthcare by far. Every single American will benefit. This is the biggest thing ever to happen on drug pricing and on healthcare. Okay, so what does this actually mean for real Americans? Let's talk numbers. Sanofi is cutting the cost of its blood thinner from $750 to less than $16. That's a 98 % reduction.

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Think about that, if you're an elderly American on blood thinners, you just went from paying 750 bucks to 16 bucks. That's life changing. Amgen is cutting its cholesterol drug Repatha from $573 to $239 on Trump Rx. Bristol Myers Squibb is cutting its HIV medication Rayetes from $1,449.

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to just $270. People living with HIV just saw their medication costs drop by 85%. Beringer-Inglehime is cutting its diabetes medication from $525 to just $55. From $525 to 55, let that sink in. Genentech is cutting its flu medication from 168.

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$50 to $50 Gilead Sciences is offering its hepatitis C medication for $2,425 instead of $24,920. That's a tenfold price cut. People with hepatitis C can now actually afford their cure. GSK is cutting its asthma inhaler from $265 to $89.

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Merck is cutting its diabetes drug from $330 to $100. These aren't small changes, patriots. These are life-changing price cuts for millions and millions of Americans. How many people do you know with diabetes? How many people do you know with asthma? How many people have been rationing their medications because they couldn't afford the full dose? Now those people can afford their medications.

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because Trump actually did something about it. And it gets better. All these companies agreed that any new drug they bring to market has to be sold at most favored nation prices. So this isn't just about existing drugs. This locks in lower prices for the future. Plus, these companies are investing over $150 billion in U.S. manufacturing and research. So not only are prices dropping,

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We are bringing pharmaceutical jobs back to America. Now, the way Americans will access these lower prices is through TrumpRx.gov. The website launches in January. It's not a store, it's a portal that connects patients directly to pharmaceutical manufacturers. You go to TrumpRx.gov, you search for your medication, it shows you the discounted price from the manufacturer, you click through and buy it directly.

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No insurance, no pharmacy benefit managers, no middlemen taking a cut. Dr. Oz, who runs Medicare and Medicaid, explained it perfectly. He said Trump looked these pharmaceutical executives in the face and said, you've been charging Americans three times more than Europeans for the same drugs made in the same factories. That ends now. And you know what? They blinked. RFK Jr. said his own son,

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who's a very, very left-wing Democrat, told him this was the greatest healthcare achievement he'd ever seen. He said Obama promised it, Biden promised it, Bernie Sanders promised it for 25 years, and nobody delivered. Trump delivered in six months in his second term. So here's my question for you. If Trump could get 14 pharmaceutical giants to agree to slash prices just by threatening tariffs,

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Why couldn't any other president do that? What were they afraid of? Or more accurately, who were they beholden to? Because Trump proved it's not impossible. It's not even hard. You just have to be willing to tell these companies, no. Okay, patriots, so Trump just took down Big Pharma. Prices are dropping. Trump RX launches in January. That's a huge win. But Trump's not stopping there.

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because lowering drug prices only solves part of the problem. The other part, health insurance premiums. At the December 19th pharmaceutical announcement, Trump said something that made insurance companies, well, very nervous. He said, I'm going to call a meeting of the insurance companies. I'm going to see if they can get their price down, to put it very bluntly. He said the meeting would happen either at Mar-a-Lago over the holidays or in Washington during the first week of January.

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when he returns to the White House. And he said insurance companies have been getting far more money than they are entitled to. Then, two days later, December 21st, Trump held a rally in North Carolina and went further. He said, Obamacare was created to make insurance companies rich. It was bad healthcare at much too high a cost. It was never any good. It was done for the benefit of insurance companies

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which totally control the Democrats. Let that sink in. Trump is openly saying that Obamacare, the Democrats' signature legislative achievement, was designed to enrich insurance companies, not help patients. And you know what? Trump's right again. When Obama passed the Affordable Care Act back in 2010, insurance companies wrote the legislation.

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They literally had lobbyists in the room drafting the bill. And what did the ACA do? It mandated that every American buy insurance, which meant guaranteed customers for insurance companies. It created subsidies, which meant guaranteed payments from the government. It eliminated competition, which meant insurance companies could charge hell, whatever they wanted. And what happened? Premiums exploded.

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In the 15 years since Obamacare passed, health insurance premiums have increased by 80%. Let me say that again, 80%. Your health insurance costs 80 % more today than it did in 2010, and Democrats told you this would make health care more affordable. Democrats promised Obamacare would lower costs. It did the opposite, and insurance companies made trillions of dollars in the process. Trump's plan?

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Cut them out. Stop giving federal health care dollars to insurance companies and give the money directly to American families. He's pushing Congress to pass legislation that would let Americans take Obamacare subsidies and put them into HSAs, health savings accounts. Then you decide how to spend your health care dollars. You pick your doctor. You choose your treatments.

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Not some insurance company bureaucrat sitting in an office deciding whether your procedure is medically necessary. Republicans in Congress are already working on bills. Association health plans, which would let you buy insurance through Amazon, Costco, or Sam's Club. Expanded health savings accounts, so you can save tax-free for medical expenses. Direct to consumer payments, so the federal government sends you the money instead of insurance companies.

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Senator Rick Scott has a bill that would end Obamacare subsidies entirely and send that money straight to Americans. Congressman Andy Biggs has a comprehensive healthcare framework that redirects insurance subsidies to patients. And Trump is backing all of it. He posted on Truth Social in November. All caps. The only healthcare I will support or approve is sending the money directly back to the people, with nothing going to the big fat rich insurance companies.

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All caps again, so that's how serious he is. So when Trump meets with insurance company CEOs in January, here's what's going to happen. He's going to tell them the same thing he told pharmaceutical companies. Lower your premiums, stop denying claims, stop taking taxpayer subsidies while providing garbage coverage or else. And

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Or else means Congress is going to cut insurance companies out of the system entirely and give Americans the money directly. Think about what that means, patriots. Right now, the federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars subsidizing health insurance companies. That money goes to insurance company profits, insurance company executive bonuses, insurance company lobbying. What if that money went to your family instead?

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What if you got a health savings account with $10,000 in it? Your money to spend on healthcare however you want. You could buy a cheaper insurance plan with a high deductible because you've got 10 grand in savings to cover expenses. You could pay cash for doctor visits and negotiate better prices. Did you know that if you pay cash, most doctors will give you a discount? You could buy medications on TrumpRx at huge discounts.

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And insurance companies would have to actually compete for your business. They couldn't just jack up premiums every year and force you to pay because you don't have a choice. If their prices are too high, you take your 10 grand and go somewhere else. That's what Trump is building. A healthcare system where patients have power. Where you control your healthcare dollars. Where insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies have to compete for your business instead of ripping you off.

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and Democrats? They are terrified because their entire political model is based on taking taxpayer money and funneling it to corporations in exchange for campaign donations. Trump's cutting out the middlemen. So ask yourself this. Do you want a health insurance companies making decisions about your health care? Or do you want to make those decisions yourself? Because that's what this fight is right now about.

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Alright, Patriots, we've talked about phase one, Trump taking on Big Pharma. We've talked about phase two, Trump going after insurance companies. Now let's talk about phase three, getting Congress to lock in these changes permanently. Because here's the thing, everything Trump's doing through executive orders and deals with companies is great, but executive orders can be reversed by the next president. Voluntary agreements can be abandoned when Trump leaves office.

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To make this permanent, we need legislation. And Republicans in Congress are working on it right now. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Republicans are bringing multiple health care bills to the floor in the next few weeks. These bills would expand association health plans, eliminate barriers to competition, increase price transparency, and codify Trump's most favored nation pricing. The goal is simple.

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Take everything Trump's accomplished through executive action and make it law. So even if Democrats take back the White House in 2028 or 2032, they can't undo it without Congress. Here's what's on the table. Association health plans. Buy insurance through Amazon, Costco, Sam's Club, pooling millions of members together to negotiate better prices. Expanded health savings accounts.

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Let everyone save tax free for health care expenses. Not just those with high deductible plans. Use HSA money for premiums, prescriptions, health care sharing ministries. Direct payments to patients. Money goes straight to families. You decide how to spend it. Insurance companies have to earn your business. Ending Obamacare subsidies. COVID error subsidies expire December 31st.

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Democrats want to extend them because insurance companies make billions. Republicans want them gone. Redirect money to patients. Price transparency. Require actual price disclosure. No hidden fees. No surprise bills. Democrats are fighting all of this because insurance and pharmaceutical companies are their biggest donors. But Republicans have House majority, Senate majority, and Trump.

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We can pass real healthcare reform. Will it happen? Depends on whether Republicans stay unified. Some are nervous about being attacked for taking away healthcare. But here's the truth. We are not taking away healthcare. We are taking away corrupt middlemen who've been stealing from Americans. We are giving patients control. Here's my question for you. Will Republicans in Congress stay unified or

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will some cave to insurance company lobbyists. This is where the rubber meets the road. Patriots, let me bring this together. Trump is executing a three-phase healthcare offensive bigger than anything we've seen in decades. Phase one, taking down big pharma. Done. 14 of 17 largest pharmaceutical companies signed deals. Blood thinners down 98%. Diabetes medications down 70%.

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HIV drugs down 85%. TrumpRx.gov launches in January with the lowest drug prices in the world. Phase two, going after insurance companies. This is in progress. Trump's meeting insurance CEOs in January. Lower premiums or get cut off. Federal healthcare dollars going to patients, not insurance companies. Phase three, congressional legislation. It's coming.

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Republicans drafting bills to make this permanent. Association health plans, expanded HSAs, direct payments to patients. You in control. This is revolutionary. The biggest health care disruption since Obamacare, except it's designed to help patients, not enrich corporations. Democrats are losing their minds because Trump did what Obama, Biden, and Bernie Sanders promised for decades and never delivered.

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RFK Jr. said it best, Bernie's been clamoring for this for 25 years. Elizabeth Warren promised it, Joe Biden promised it, Barack Obama promised it. Trump delivered it in six months in his second term. Why? Because Trump isn't bought by pharmaceutical companies. He isn't beholden to insurance donors. He cares about one thing, keeping promises to the American people. So,

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When your liberal friends scream Trump doesn't have a healthcare plan, hit them with these facts. 14 pharmaceutical companies slashing prices. Trump RX launching in January. Insurance companies next. Then ask them, why couldn't Obama do this? Why couldn't Biden? Why couldn't Bernie? Simple answer. They didn't want to. They were taking donations from the industries they claimed to be fighting. Trump.

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He's actually fighting, and Americans are about to see the results. Well, patriots, that's our show for today. Trump's healthcare offensive is just getting started. Hit that subscribe, follow, and or like button. Thank you in advance. Check out O'Connor's Quick Strike Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This podcast is Tuesdays and Thursdays. Find me on X at O'Connor Podcasts. Share this episode.

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The media won't tell you the truth about Trump's healthcare wins, so it's up to us. Have a great rest of your day, and Merry Christmas to you all, patriots. Until next Tuesday, hold the line unapologetically. This is John O'Connor, signing off.