Centers for Medicare Director Chris Klomp joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to outline the Trump administration’s latest Medicare rate updates, defend new efforts to curb rising health care costs and highlight ongoing steps to lower prescription drug prices.
Falling prescription drug prices are emerging as a significant development in a broader effort to rein in U.S. health care spending, with new pricing changes beginning to appear across pharmacy counters.
Medicare Director Chris Klomp joins FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” to discuss how recent policy changes are beginning to impact affordability in the health care system.
Tom Brady opens up about his health amid GLP-1 surge: water, mobility and discipline
Klomp pointed to early signs that pricing pressures are easing, especially for high-demand drugs like GLP-1 drugs, which have grown in popularity but remain out of reach for many patients. He attributed the recent price decline to steps taken by President Donald Trump to lower drug costs through new pricing initiatives.
Fox Business’s Gerry Willis reports on a Gallup poll that shows 61% of Americans are very concerned about rising health care costs, surpassing concerns about the economy and inflation.
“If you need a GLP-1, you’re now paying half of what you were paying a few months before those deals were announced,” Klomp said.
Klomp framed the pricing changes as part of a broader effort to address affordability challenges that have kept many Americans from filling prescriptions.
Rising health care costs, insurance premiums now worry Americans more than any other household issue: Survey
Woman injecting a syringe of medicine into her stomach (David Petrus Ebbers/Getty Images)
“This solves the problem for the quarter of Americans who can’t get a prescription when they go to the pharmacy because they just can’t afford it,” Klomp said.
The price drop reflects increased competition in the market as well as a broader effort to more closely align drug costs with international standards. GLP-1 drugs, commonly used for diabetes and weight management, have become the focus of the affordability debate as demand has increased.
eMed Chief Wellness Officer Tom Brady and eMed CEO Linda Yaccarino discuss the evolution of the GLP-1 market and the company’s latest funding round on ‘Mornings with Maria’.
Klomp suggested the changes extend beyond a single drug class, pointing to similar trends in other treatments where cost has historically been a barrier to access.
“If you want to expand your family, you need to take fertility drugs again. You’re paying about half as much for those drugs, saving thousands of dollars per cycle of treatment compared to just a few months ago,” he said.
The changes come as policymakers look for ways to reduce out-of-pocket costs while maintaining long-term stability in federal health care programs.
“(Trump) is giving every American family the ability to be healthy,” Klomp said.
Get Fox Business by clicking here
