‘Not How Numbers Work’: Critics School Trump After Baffling Claim

President Donald Trump is getting warmth on social media for making a declare on Tuesday about slicing drug costs that’s primarily mathematically unimaginable.

Trump started promisingly sufficient with a grievance shared by Democrats and Republicans alike: the excessive price of treatment, and the way rather more Individuals pay for some medicines than sufferers in different nations.

He promised to scale back these prices ― however to a impossible diploma.

“We’re gonna get the drug costs down. Not 30% or 40%, which might be nice. Not 50% or 60%. No, we’re gonna get them down 1,000%, 600%, 500%, 1,500%,” Trump said at a Republican dinner. “Numbers that aren’t even regarded as achievable.”

Critics shortly identified the explanation these numbers usually are not regarded as achievable: lowering the value by 100% would make the medicine free. Decreasing it by “1,000%, 600%, 500%, 1,500%,” as Trump stated, would make the associated fee damaging {dollars} ― with the drug firm primarily paying folks to take the treatment.

However Trump insisted he may use “a sure expertise that I’ve” to persuade pharmaceutical firms that they don’t have any alternative however to scale back their costs.

Trump additionally talked about an executive order he signed in Could to invoke “most-favored nation” standing in drug prices, which he says would be sure that drug firms can’t cost Individuals any greater than what they cost sufferers in different nations.

Nonetheless, the details of that plan stay hazy, and at the very least one pharmaceutical CEO stated discussions with the White Home are ongoing and anticipated to take time.

Trump on Tuesday insisted that his order will result in these worth cuts.

“We may have lowered drug costs by 1,000%, by 1,100, 1,200, 1,300, 1,400, 700, 600,” he stated. “Not 30 or 40 or 50%, however numbers the likes of which you’ve by no means even dreamed of earlier than.”

Trump’s critics provided some free math classes: