Republican front-runner Donald Trump says he could save Medicare billions of dollars by getting the massive federal agency to negotiate prices with the major pharmaceutical companies.
Trump told an enthusiastic crowd of about 1,000 people packed into a high school gymnasium Monday night in Farmington, N.H., that Medicare could “save $300 billion” a year by getting discounts as the biggest buyer of prescription drugs.
Said Trump: “We don’t do it. Why? Because of the drug companies.”
Companies generally can set the prices for approved drugs because the US government doesn’t regulate medicine prices, as other countries do. The powerful pharmaceutical lobby has repeatedly fended off such proposals that would cut into profits.
Trump also boasted about his high poll numbers nationwide and in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He slammed President Barack Obama and bashed Republican rivals, specifically Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz.
