Our nation is growing older, a change that is reshaping the healthcare needs of our communities. In 2020, nearly 17 percent of the population was age 65 and older. This age group grew five times faster than the general population between 1920 and 2020 and is continuing its exponential trajectory, with the share of U.S. adults aged 65 or older projected to account for almost a quarter of the country’s population by 2060.
That shift is not abstract. It means more people managing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other chronic and complex conditions that require consistent access to prescription medications.
For older adults on fixed incomes, the price of filling a prescription is not just another line item in their budget. That cost can determine whether someone stays healthy enough to remain independent or ends up in a hospital bed.
More than 90 percent of Americans age 65 and over live with at least one chronic condition, and many rely on multiple medications daily. When out-of-pocket costs rise unexpectedly, seniors are often forced to make difficult tradeoffs between prescriptions and other essentials such as groceries. Even modest increases can strain retirement savings and Social Security benefits that were never designed to absorb unpredictable spikes in healthcare spending.
For seniors nationwide, TrumpRx represents a promising step toward addressing these concerns. By negotiating directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers and creating a direct-to-consumer purchasing pathway, the administration is connecting Americans to the lowest prices for treatments they need by cutting out the supply-chain middlemen that drive up costs. For seniors who have long felt squeezed between rising out-of-pocket costs and burdensome insurance barriers, the launch of TrumpRx offers hope.
Greater transparency and direct purchasing options give patients more control over their care and lead to lower upfront costs. It is a meaningful development for older Americans who depend on predictable healthcare expenses to manage their budgets.
However, Congress must act to ensure as many seniors as possible can fully benefit from these lower prices. Under current insurance rules, purchases made outside of traditional plan structures often do not count toward a patient’s annual deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. That means an American senior could obtain a medication at the lowest cost through TrumpRx, but make no progress toward meeting their full insurance deductible before coverage begins. Dollars spent securing a better price for their medication would not necessarily bring them any closer to reaching their plan’s cost-sharing threshold.
That disconnect undermines the very goal of improving patient affordability.
Seniors should not be penalized for pursuing lower prices. If a patient pays for a medication through TrumpRx, those payments should count toward their deductible and annual out-of-pocket cost cap.
Without this fix, older adults may face an unfair choice. They can seek a lower upfront price but delay progress toward meeting their deductible, or they can remain within their plan’s structure and potentially pay more at the pharmacy counter. Neither outcome reflects a patient-centered system.
This issue becomes more urgent annually. Projections estimate that the number of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States will increase to 77 million in the next four years. As our population continues to age, the number of Americans navigating these financial and administrative barriers will grow.
Congress has an opportunity to ensure that innovation translates into meaningful savings. By requiring that purchases made through TrumpRx count toward deductibles and annual out-of-pocket limits, federal lawmakers can align incentives with common sense to benefit patients. Such a change would not dismantle existing insurance coverage but ensure that savings follow the patient.
Seniors have worked for decades, contributed to their communities, and paid into Medicare. They deserve a healthcare system that supports their independence and rewards responsible efforts to manage costs.
With Congress supporting its goals, TrumpRx gets the job done, lowering costs for patients and putting Americans back in control of their health. What our legislators must not do is codify overly broad price controls, such as a most-favored nation pricing approach, that go far beyond the scope of meaningful out-of-pocket cost reform. These foreign price controls only threaten the availability of current and future treatments.
TrumpRx is a game-changing option for patients. Now, federal policymakers must take the right next step to ensure that older Americans can fully benefit from it. As our great nation grows older, our policies must evolve as well.
Saul Anuzis is president of 60 Plus, the American Association of Senior Citizens.
Reprinted with Permission from DC Journal – By Saul Anuzis
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Just before reading this article I was talking to a democrat who said Trump is an evil conniving person. I said I don’t think so. Didn’t you get a taxbreak? Yes she said. Did you get that from your party? Wasn’t that high inflation on everything from 20% on groceries and gas to higher cost on clothing furniture and cars and don’t forget the cost of heating your home under Biden a conniving plan to bankrupt Americans. She had no more to say and left. Here is Trump once again to help the seniors in this country, which the dems told they had a duty to die. While Biden wanted them to become poor by pulling middle class down to the level of the poor and every other class down to the next lower level. Only the millionaires were never included in his policies. He almost succeeded to break the economy and Trump is seen as conniving. I told her that is propaganda set up by the democrats. She said all her rep friends said the same thing. They have never followed up by what CNN and others were and are saying. They swallow everything as God’s honest truth. They don’t care whom they hurt. Power is their goal. Here Trump has prevented a disaster when these seniors qualify for this. Then it’s too late to set up a program. He looks at the future. America will be here long after the current democrats have passed away.
DIMMS, especially Barry O, did NOTHING to help us normal people. If we could do something about the ambulance-chasing lawyers, who cause doctors’ malpractice insurance to rise greatly, then we might get some lower prices!
This country is deceiving itself with the narrative of “health care”.
Let’s examine our condition: the food we eat is adulterated by many processes that make it of very little value to a healthy condition, then we go to these big pharma doctors who give us more chemical formulas that don’t help but worsen the condition.
Lowering the price of pharmaceutical garbage will not alter the fact that it’s still garbage.
I looked at it and ii is a great idea but is of zero help for seniors. Most seniors are on Medicare in some form and if you are on Medicare, or any other insurance, you are excluded from using this. My wife is on an expensive medication that is not covered by Medicare so we looked for it here. We found it at a great price but when tried applying for it we could not go forward with it because she is on Medicare, even though Medicare will not cover it. I get that it will not cover if you have insurance to cover it but if your insurance won’t cover it, is that not the same as not having insurance?
Why not legislate to cut out middlemen period. Then you wouldn’t need Mark Cuban’s Rx Plan or TrumpRx at all.
I am a Medicare Agent that helps seniors with their medicare supplements, advantage plans and drug plans. I’ve been saying for 8 years Seniors need a better drug plan and something affordable that mimics the plan they had when working. And not forcing them to go on an MA. This is a wonderful idea and long overdue. Bush implemented the Part D so more money goes to the government who then in turn feeds the ma companies. Before the Part D plan a medicare supplement included Part D drug plans. The medicare recipient was able to get a plan that included drugs and have great coverage in a medicare gap or supplement plan.
Congress is not in the game this time around. We have settled for ultra partisanship and self serving politicians. They meet in committees in front of cameras to act out for the sake of donors. The significant actions take place in front of media cameras and live interviews. No time left for business of the people.
My first copay for my medications in 2026 was $730.00 dollars the second co pay of this year was $430.00. I am going to have to renew at least 3 more soon. I do not have enough money in my check book to pay my bills this month so do not know where I am going tp get tje copay. Senior citizens need help now.
TrumpRx needs to research Epilepsy; a term that the medical industry uses to summarize 40 different types of seizures. Brand name medications can cost $2500 for a 90 day supply. If one has to take 2 types, that’s $5000 for 90 days. What percentage of people have that kind of money? Generic meds for epilepsy do not work for some people. TrumpRx could be a savior. It could be a tremendous help to the estimated 3.5 million people in the U.S. who have this condition; which by the way is not contagious. I suggest all read about SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death due to Epilepsy). You’ll be shocked. Rare, but it can happen to anybody who has epilepsy without any warning.
Get the Government out of Healthcare…….
The copay for my COPD Respimat prescription jumped from $47/mo to $378 after the first of the year. Needless to say, I have not been able to afford it and have been without it since the first of the year.
I called my pulmonologist twice but he never called me back. No one cares about old people and at 86 I guess they figure it’s time I died anyway.
I think it’s a crime the way insurance companies just play around with our health and if we die because we can’t afford our meds, no great loss to them.
I am 95 and do not have one foot in the grave yet. Live with family and care for myself.
YES!
Perhaps it would be a good idea to look at the insurances and the lawyers, they are the ones driving the cost up and up , rain them in,. and see what happens. They and the cheaters are the true beneficiaries of the system, patient is not even in the picture it’s too easy to cheat and abuse.
Can you use this service if you already have drug insurance?
I am so thankful, that prescription meds are not a thing I have to deal with, I am further thankful that our President, who is beyond a millionaire himself, by his own efforts, not with insider trading, he can see the urgency of we the senior voter. Note, this TrumpRx helps dims and repubs, just a thought.
What about foods that are low in purines and oxalates..aka, romaine Lettece – more expensive than lettuce and spinach, which I can’t have. And Salmon is ok, but – no shrimp, no sardines, etc. SO EXPENSIVE! No red meat either…..
Trump has more things he’s selling that I don’t surely trust this!!!! Nobody gets what they order!!!!