This story was updated on April 1 with additional news.
By Fran Kritz
TrumpRx, the White House’s new online platform for some prescription drug purchases, got a shoutout during President Trump’s recent State of the Union speech. The president said, “Americans who have for decades paid by far the highest prices of any nation anywhere in the world for prescription drugs will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs.”
The site, launched in early February, grew out of an executive order issued last year by the White House that allows consumers to purchase prescription drugs at the “most-favored-nation” (MFN) price directly from the drug manufacturer. MFN prices refer to the lowest prices paid in comparable countries.
The Trump administration announced several agreements last year with drug manufacturers for MFN consumer prices, including agreements with companies making GLP-agonist obesity management drugs in November 2025.
“The intent of the program is really good,” Michael Murphy, PharmD, MBA, a senior advisor for state government affairs at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), told Pharmacy Practice News. “[TrumpRx is] trying to decrease the price of medications for patients, which pharmacists support. Pharmacists want to make sure that their patients have access to affordable, safe, and effective medications.”
Related Content
Dr. Murphy said APhA is working on resources to help support pharmacists helping their patients with TrumpRx. He added that a key benefit of the site is that “there is likely going to be increased transparency and discussion across consumers and patients around the cost of medications, which will help patients better understand the complex system.”
Dr. Murphy said the site will affect all types of pharmacists—community, clinic, and health-system—“as they help patients understand options for paying for their medications.”
Mixed Effects on Cost
The site acknowledges that people whose health insurance covers drugs may pay less than the TrumpRx prices.
Patients can’t buy drugs directly from TrumpRx. Instead, they can print out coupons (or transfer them to a digital wallet) to show at a retail or specialty pharmacy for discounts.
For some drugs, including semaglutide medications like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic, the site offers a link to a drug company website where the drugs can be purchased. All purchases associated with TrumpRx require a prescription; patients who go to obesity drug purchasing sites can be linked to a telehealth site where doctors can prescribe drugs.
TrumpRx, at least for now, only offers brand-name drugs, even if there is a generic version available. In a recent issue brief, KFF recommended that consumers check other discount drug sites such as GoodRx and Cost-Plus Drugs to see if they can find cheaper prices than they see on TrumpRx.
And, at least for now, purchases through TrumpRx do not apply to health insurance deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums, which means, according to KFF, that for some people the overall cost of a drug could be higher using TrumpRx if they never reach their deductible. At that point, insurers who require a deductible start paying for at least some of a drug’s cost.
Also, TrumpRx coupons cannot currently not be used in California and Massachusetts, because drug coupons cannot be used in situations where no generics are available. TrumpRx does not sell any generic drugs. About half of the drugs on the website have generic equivalents available in the United States, and 17 are less expensive via GoodRx discounts or direct purchase from Cost Plus Drugs than the TrumpRx coupon price for the brand-name version, according to KFF.
TrumpRx does have sizeable savings that the White House negotiated for GLP-1 drugs for obesity management. List price for the injectable drugs can still be over $1,000 for cash-paying customers, but the prices are far lower on TrumpRx. For example, the new pill version of Wegovy has a starting price of $149 for the lowest doses on TrumpRx; higher doses cost $299. Zepbound (tirzepatide, Lilly), an injectable weight-loss drug, costs $199 for lower doses on TrumpRx, and increases to $249 per month for higher doses. And some brand-name fertility drugs are less expensive for cash-paying customers than even generic versions at pharmacies.
Cherokee Layson-Wolf, PharmD, a residency program director at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, thinks TrumpRx could also be a catalyst for patients to begin or continue talking to their pharmacists about various ways to save money on prescription drugs, through the site or other options.
The new site also creates at least two important roles for pharmacists. First, because TrumpRx purchases don’t go through insurers’ processing systems, an important safeguard—checking for drug and health interactions—is lost. As a result, pharmacists must be especially diligent, particularly with new customers who may not yet be in the pharmacy’s system when prescriptions are filled using TrumpRx coupons or other site purchases, she noted.
Secondly, with the introduction of TrumpRx, patients at various prescription interactions may want to talk about cost. “So, for example,” Dr. Layson-Wolf said, “when a drug is given at hospital or clinic discharge, a patient may now be more likely to ask about cost, and pharmacists can help by interacting with providers and community pharmacists to help address both patients’ financial as well as medical needs.”
TrumpRx Goal 'Not Actually Some Massive Reach'
By early April, the site offered 54 drugs for sale, out of over roughly 20,000 drugs sold in the United States, according to the FDA. Two recent additions include Siponimod (Maygent, Novartis) and crisaborole (Eurcrisa, Pfizer).
A recent survey from health research group KFF found that one-third (35%) of Americans report having heard “a lot” or “some” about the site. Seven percent of adults who currently take prescription medication say they have visited the TrumpRx website to compare prescription drug prices. That rises to one in six (16%) of those who currently or have ever taken a GLP-1 medication, for diabetes and or/weight loss, one of the classes of drugs consumers can get discounted rates through the new website.
Speaking in mid-March at a healthcare summit hosted by health news service STAT, Chris Klomp, the director of Medicare and deputy administrator of CMS, discussed the intent of TrumpRx. “The goal was not actually some massive reach,” Mr. Klomp said, adding that “170 million Americans are commercially insured, 68 million Americans are on Medicare, the balance are on Medicaid and CHIP largely. TrumpRx is not for most of them, it’s cash pay.”
Drs. Murphy and Layson-Wolf reported no relevant financial disclosures.