Bassett Participates in TrumpRx
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
COOPERSTOWN
Bassett Healthcare Network has shared it is participating in TrumpRx, President Donald Trump’s new program allowing customers to purchase prescription drugs from drugmakers at discounted prices.
“Bassett Healthcare Network’s outpatient pharmacies are participating in the TrumpRx program, so patients who wish to shop and qualify for discounted drugs on the TrumpRx online platform will be able to receive discounts on their prescriptions that can be honored at our pharmacies,” a Bassett spokesperson said in a statement to AllOtsego. “Pharmacy staff are also prepared to assist patients if they have questions regarding whether their prescriptions may be a part of the discounted TrumpRx drug list platform and/or other prescription discount platforms.
“Our healthcare network supports each patient’s right to choose where and how they fill their prescription. We encourage patients to thoroughly explore each of their options, including their medical insurance, to determine their best option for prescription savings,” the spokesperson said.
Trump touted the TrumpRx eponymous website in his recent State of the Union speech. His administration said they negotiated with drugmakers to include their products on the site.
“I’m also ending the wildly inflated cost of prescription drugs like has never happened before,” Trump said. “Other presidents tried to do it, but they never could. They tried.”
The platform allows customers to search for discounted prices on brand-name medications, in most cases allowing them to print coupons to use at pharmacies. The drugs are priced at the “most-favored-nation” cost, the lowest amount they are sold for in other countries. Many of these prices were already available, though harder to find, by searching for the medications directly on the manufacturers’ websites, according to KFF, a health policy organization.
The United States has long had some of the most expensive medication costs in the world. According to a RAND Health Care study, drugs sold in the U.S. were nearly three times as costly as 33 comparable countries in 2022.
“Trump Rx” is a publicity stunt to distract from the obvious: The best place to buy prescription drugs is anywhere other than the United States – because the purveyors of Trump Rx have neglected to address the price-gouging of the American pharmaceutical industry, in any comprehensive health care reform measures. Trump Rx is the political equivalent of a bandaid. Drugs are cheaper in pharmacies in Canada and Mexico. But Trump Rx doesn’t provide links for you to buy generic drugs directly from a pharmacy in another country, because the Trump Administration’s Border Protection and Customs Agency won’t allow that. The best deals in the world aren’t on Trump Rx. TrumpCare is “If you’re poor and you get sick, you’ll die” 😎