Watch: Trump launches the medical drug website TrumpRx

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday launched TrumpRx, a website it says will help patients buy prescription drugs directly at a discount at a time when health care and the cost of living are growing concerns for Americans.

Watch in our video player above.

“You’ll save a fortune,” President Donald Trump said when unveiling the site. “This is also very good for overall health care.”

He watches: Trump pledges to significantly reduce drug prices, according to the new TrumpRX website

The government-hosted website is not a platform for purchasing medicines. Instead, it was created as a facilitator, directing Americans to direct-to-consumer drug company websites where they could make purchases. It also provides coupons to use at pharmacies. The site is launching with more than 40 medications, including weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

The site is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to show it is addressing the challenges of rising costs. Affordability has emerged as a political Achilles heel for Trump and his Republican allies ahead of the November midterm elections, as Americans remain concerned about the cost of housing, groceries, utilities and other essential elements of middle-class identity.

Trump stressed that the lower prices were made possible thanks to his pressure on pharmaceutical companies regarding prices, saying that he asked them to impose the same costs in the United States as in other countries. Prescription drug costs will rise in foreign countries as a result, he said.

“We are tired of supporting the world,” Trump said at the event, which was held on the White House campus and lasted about 20 minutes.

President Trump first raised the issue in September when he announced the first of more than 15 deals with drug companies to lower drug prices to match the lowest price offered in other developed countries. He said in December that the site would offer “deep discounts to all consumers” — though it’s unclear whether the prices available on drug company websites will routinely be lower than what many consumers can get with their insurance coverage.

Thursday’s release of the site came after it faced several delays, for reasons the administration did not share publicly. Last fall, Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told Trump that the site would share prices to consumers before the end of the year. The expected launch in late January has also been postponed.

The president has spent the past few months trying to highlight his efforts to lower drug prices for Americans. He did this through deals with big drug companies, including some of the largest drugmakers like Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Merck, which agreed to lower the prices of their Medicaid drugs to so-called “most favored nation” prices. As part of the deals, several of the companies’ new medicines will also be launched at discounted prices to consumer markets through TrumpRx.

Many details of Trump’s deals with manufacturers remain unclear, and drug prices for patients in the United States can depend on many factors, including the competition the treatment faces and insurance coverage. Most people have coverage through work, the individual insurance market or government programs like Medicaid and Medicare, which protect them from much of the cost.

The Trump administration also negotiated lower prices for many prescription drugs for Medicare enrollees, through a direct negotiation program established by the 2022 law.