经济学家表示，永久价格上限的影响将在上游的研发环节显现
作者：阿曼达·马西亚斯
福克斯新闻
发布时间：2026年3月9日 美国东部时间上午11:00
唐纳德·特朗普总统最新推动的削减处方药价格的举措承诺将缓解药房柜台前的经济压力，但头条新闻中的节省背后隐藏着可能重塑美国新药研发、定价和配送方式的权衡。
为兑现这一承诺，政府推出了TrumpRx——一个联邦价格比较平台，旨在降低患者自付费用。这一努力是在中期选举周期的背景下展开的，在此期间，不断上涨的医疗保健成本仍然是选民的核心关切和标志性的竞选议题。
政治吸引力显而易见，但专家警告称，经济层面的情况要复杂得多。经济学家指出了一个基本的权衡：今天更低的价格可能会影响明天新药的研发方式和是否研发。
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特朗普政府推出了TrumpRx.gov网站，旨在引导患者访问药企网站。(TrumpRx)
“当药品价格被限制或谈判降低时，企业会预期回报率下降，从而减少对药物研发的投资，”沃顿商学院商业经济学与公共政策教授奥利维亚·米切尔表示。
“经济证据表明，更低的价格会削弱开发新药的动力，”她补充道。
“短期内，患者和支付方可以通过更低的价格和自付费用看到显著节省，但从长远来看，存在新药数量减少或上市延迟的更大风险，尤其是在受价格控制影响最大的领域。”
特朗普与主要药企达成协议，降低美国人医疗补助处方药成本
不断上涨的医疗保健成本仍然是选民的核心关切和标志性的竞选议题。(George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
美国行动论坛医疗政策主任迈克尔·贝克表示，政府设定价格并不会消除成本，而只是重新分配成本。
“在最基本的层面上，政府设定价格仅限制患者为药物支付的金额——通常体现在自付费用或共同保险费用中，”贝克说。“这无助于解决药物的整体成本问题（有人仍需支付这部分成本），也不会降低与研发相关的成本。”
他表示，因此，这些成本可能会通过更严格的医保覆盖规定、更少的治疗选择或未来创新减少而重新出现。
政府政策的支持者反驳称，该政策并不等同于严格的政府价格上限。相反，他们将其描述为一种谈判安排。
如何使用Trump Rx查找药物的更便宜现金价格
随着成本攀升，许多患者发现即时节省的诱惑难以拒绝。(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
传统基金会的埃德·海斯尔迈尔表示，药企似乎正在降低价格，以换取扩大的市场准入或其他减免，他认为这种结构避免了传统价格控制最具破坏性的影响。
“在这种情况下，企业可能会计算，价格降低带来的收入损失将被销量增加带来的收入增长所抵消，”海斯尔迈尔告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
“最损害创新的那种政府价格控制是限制企业对新产品收取的初始价格。这种情况在一些国家存在，但幸运的是，美国尚未出现这种情况。”
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对于被不断上涨的成本压榨的患者而言，即时节省的承诺很难被忽视。
但经济学家表示，长期的问题在于，该体系能否在不削弱产生下一代治疗方法的动力的前提下提供更便宜的药物——随着医疗成本持续处于核心位置，两党可能会继续关注这一问题。
阿曼达为福克斯新闻数字频道报道商业与政治的交叉领域。
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388925766112
Trump’s Rx plan promises savings, but economists see a hidden trade-off
Economists say the effects of permanent price caps would be felt upstream in research and development
By Amanda Macias
Fox News
Published March 9, 2026 11:00am EDT
President Donald Trump’s latest push to slash prescription drug prices promises relief at the pharmacy counter, but behind the headline savings lie trade-offs that could reshape how drugs are developed, priced and delivered in the United States.
To deliver on that promise, the administration has rolled out TrumpRx, a federal price-comparison platform aimed at lowering out-of-pocket costs. The effort unfolds against the backdrop of the midterm election cycle, where rising healthcare costs remain a central concern for voters and a defining campaign issue.
The political appeal is clear, but experts warn the economics are messier. Economists point to a basic trade-off: lower prices today can shape how and whether new drugs are developed tomorrow.
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The Trump administration has launched TrumpRx.gov, a site meant to direct patients to drugmakers’ websites.(TrumpRx)
“When drug prices are capped or negotiated down, companies anticipate lower returns, reducing investment in drug research and development,” said Olivia Mitchell, a professor of business economics and public policy at the Wharton School.
“Economic evidence shows that lower prices depress incentives to develop new drugs,” she added.
“In the short term, patients and payers can see meaningful savings through lower prices and out-of-pocket costs, but in the longer term, there is more risk of fewer or slower-arriving new medicines, especially in areas most exposed to price controls.”
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Rising healthcare costs remain a central concern for voters and a defining campaign issue.(George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Michael Baker, director of healthcare policy at the American Action Forum, said government price setting does not eliminate costs so much as redistribute them.
“At the most basic level, government price setting only limits what patients pay for a drug — usually reflected in an out-of-pocket or co-insurance payment,” Baker said. “This does nothing to address the overall cost of the drug, which someone still has to pay, nor does it lower the cost associated with development.”
As a result, he said, those costs could reemerge through tighter health coverage rules, fewer treatment options or reduced future innovation.
Supporters of the administration counter that the policy does not amount to strict government price caps. Instead, they describe it as a negotiated arrangement.
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With costs climbing, many patients find the lure of immediate savings tough to pass up.(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Ed Haislmaier of the Heritage Foundation said companies appear to be lowering prices in exchange for expanded market access or other relief, a structure he argues avoids the most disruptive effects of traditional price controls.
“In such cases, companies are likely calculating that revenue losses from lower prices will be offset by revenue gains from more sales,” Haislmaier told Fox News Digital.
“The kind of government price controls that are most damaging to innovation are ones that limit the initial price a company can charge for a new product. That is the situation in some countries, but fortunately not yet in the United States,” he added.
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For patients squeezed by rising costs, the promise of immediate savings is hard to dismiss.
But economists say the long run question is whether the system can deliver cheaper drugs without dulling the incentives that produce the next generation of treatments —an issue both parties are likely to keep pressing as health costs stay front and center.
Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388925766112
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