People have spent a lifetime paying taxes in exchange for the promise of Medicare coverage once they reach 65. In return, seniors expect to receive the highest quality care and access to innovative, impactful treatments and therapies they need to maintain their health. The “most favored nation” drug pricing policy being considered by the Trump administration threatens to disrupt their Medicare coverage completely by importing foreign price-setting policies that could limit access to the medications millions depend on. Every Medicare beneficiary should be paying attention.
The MFN policy would tie U.S. drug prices to those set in foreign countries, ignoring a fundamental difference between how the U.S. and other nations approach healthcare. The U.S. operates a market-based healthcare system that prioritizes patient choice and access, while many European countries rely on single-payer systems that prioritize cost containment over patient access, often resulting in delays for new medicines and fewer available treatment options.
Those restrictions are not limited to new treatments. Many foreign healthcare systems use government-directed assessments to determine which medicines are worth covering and at what price. In some decisions, these decisions rely on metrics such as quality-adjusted life year, which attempts to measure the value of a treatment based on a patient’s expected quality and length of life. Critics have long warned that these metrics could disproportionately discriminate against seniors, placing a lesser value on their lives and sidelining their needs simply because of their age. By design, QALY could not only devastate seniors’ timely access to care but also deny it.
MFN pricing imports the same underlying philosophy. The policy has been framed not only as a cost-cutting measure, but also as a response to foreign freeloading — yet it fails to do both. The U.S. leads the world in biopharmaceutical innovation, and while we’re incentivizing domestic manufacturing, too many nations continue to benefit from American breakthroughs without contributing to the research that makes them possible. Simply tying U.S. prices to those imposed by foreign governments does nothing to encourage those countries to pay more or invest more in innovation. If we want to protect American innovation, MFN is not the answer.
The threat of MFN is no longer hypothetical. Variations of the policy are already making their way into Medicare. The proposed Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing and Guarding U.S. Medicare Against Rising Drug Costs models would apply foreign reference pricing concepts to Medicare Parts B and D, programs that millions of seniors rely on for their prescription drug coverage.
For decades, Medicare has evolved to better serve seniors and improve access to care. Price controls within the program threaten that progress. These policies could reduce access to cutting-edge treatments without delivering lower out-of-pocket costs.
Seniors are taking notice. Our latest Senior Satisfaction Survey revealed that 88% of seniors fear policies such as MFN will devalue their ability to receive care, and 89% worry it will interfere with patient-doctor choice. These concerns are not abstract. Seniors understand what’s at stake: fewer options, delayed treatment, and a system that pushes their needs to the side.
That’s why both Seniors Speak Out and RetireSafe have been sounding the alarm on the dangers of government price-setting policies. As organizations that represent the millions of seniors on Medicare, we find it critically important to educate them on the policies being proposed and haphazardly pushed in Washington.
As SSO spokesman Thair Phillips said at our recent event, “Lawmakers cannot overlook their concerns when determining the most appropriate healthcare policies. The focus must be on ensuring seniors have access to affordable, cutting-edge treatments they need.”
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The health and well-being of seniors should never become an afterthought. Lawmakers should reject efforts to codify MFN and instead focus on strengthening Medicare for the people it was designed to serve.
It’s time to protect seniors’ access to care and the future of medical innovation.
Thair Phillips is a spokesman for Seniors Speak Out, a resource for seniors, caregivers, and advocates to help ensure seniors have access to high-quality healthcare. Mark Gibbons is the president of RetireSafe, a grassroots, nonprofit organization educating and advocating on behalf of seniors.