During a North Carolina campaign speech in which President Donald Trump announced that HHS and the FDA now allow states to import drugs from Canada, he also revealed the federal government's plans to send $200 prescription savings cards to Medicare patients, according to STAT.
The savings cards, which aim to provide older patients with one-time savings for prescription medications, are slated for delivery to 33 million Medicare beneficiaries in the next few weeks. Delivering that many savings cards will cost nearly $7 billion, money the White House administration said will be obtained from the savings it hopes to garner from the importation relaxation the president announced Sept. 24, STAT reported.
The New York Times reported Sept. 18 President Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, told the pharmaceutical industry it needed to pay for $100 cash cards that would be delivered to older Americans before the November election. This plan was rejected by the industry. PhRMA, the industry’s largest trade group said the plan would "neither provide lasting help, nor advance the fundamental reforms necessary to help seniors better afford their medicines."