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Hundreds of Lobbyists Try to Clawback Medicare Drug Price Negotiations, Win Trump’s Favor
Big Pharma and its allies have taken corporate influence in Washington to new heights, hiring more than 500 lobbyists this year in an attempt to pass three bills that undermine Medicare drug price negotiations, according to a new Public Citizen report.
- The ORPHAN Cures Act, passed in July 2025, will delay and exempt some of the most profitable drugs – including cancer treatments – from negotiations, representing tens of billions in annual Medicare spending.
- The EPIC Act and MINI Act, if passed, would lengthen the already long delay period before small molecule drugs are eligible for negotiation — effectively excluding many medicines from negotiations entirely or shortening the period patients have access to lower negotiated prices to only one or two years.
Lobbyist hires by Big Pharma and its allies outnumbered public interest lobbyists on the Hill opposing the 3 harmful bills by over 20-to-one.
In addition to Republicans including ORPHAN Cures in their Big Ugly Bill, one of President Trump’s recent executive orders suggests Big Pharma’s lobbying efforts on EPIC are working. In April, Trump issued an executive order titled “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First”, which essentially endorses the EPIC Act, a bill that would raise drug costs for patients and taxpayers by billions of dollars.
“Members of Congress must reject the demands of pharma lobbyists and instead work to make prescription drugs more affordable,” said Steve Knievel, Public Citizen Access to Medicines Advocate. “Instead of handing drug corporations billions of dollars by helping them evade price negotiations through measures like the ORPHAN Cures Act, EPIC Act and MINI Act, Congress should pass legislation to empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices on all costly medicines and allow all patients to access lower, negotiated prices, even if they don’t have Medicare.
The prices for the 15 drugs negotiated by Medicare with pharmaceutical companies is expected to be announced in November.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Ocasio-Cortez Says ‘We Should Not Be Entertaining a Bailout’ of AI Industry as Bubble Fears Grow
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said no government rescue of artificial intelligence firms "as healthcare is being denied to everyday Americans."
Nov 19, 2025
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday that the federal government should not consider a taxpayer bailout of the artificial intelligence industry as fears grow that the rapidly expanding sector poses systemic risks to the global economy.
"Should this bubble pop, we should not be entertaining a bailout," Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said during a House subcommittee hearing. "We should not entertain a bailout of these corporations as healthcare is being denied to everyday Americans, as SNAP and food assistance is being denied to everyday Americans, precipitating some of the very mental crises that people are turning to AI chat bots to try to resolve."
Ocasio-Cortez echoed the concerns of industry insiders and analysts who have warned in recent weeks that the AI investment boom created a bubble whose rupture would cause far-reaching economic carnage.
"We're talking about a massive economic bubble," the New York Democrat said Tuesday. "Depending on the exposure of that bubble, we could see 2008-style threats to economic stability."
Ocasio-Cortez's remarks came on the same day that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sounded the alarm about potential Trump administration plans to "use taxpayer dollars to prop up OpenAI and other AI companies at the expense of working class Americans."
"The Trump administration’s close ties with AI executives and donors—including millions of dollars of contributions to President Trump’s new ballroom project—raise concerns that the administration will bail out AI executives and shareholders while leaving taxpayers to foot the bill," Warren wrote in a letter to the White House's AI czar, David Sacks.
OpenAI, a firm at the center of the nascent industry, has reportedly been in discussion with the Trump administration about the possibility of receiving federal loan guarantees for the construction of chip factories in the United States. Robert Weissman, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, warned earlier this month that "it is entirely possible that OpenAI and the White House are concocting a scheme to siphon taxpayer money into OpenAI’s coffers, perhaps with some tribute paid to Trump and his family."
"Perhaps not so coincidentally, OpenAI president Greg Brockman was among the attendees at a dinner for donors to Trump’s White House ballroom, though neither he nor OpenAI have been reported to be actual donors," Weissman added.
Writing for the Wall Street Journal last week, Sarah Myers West and Amba Kak of the AI Now Institute observed that "the federal government is already bailing out the AI industry with regulatory changes and public funds that will protect companies in the event of a private sector pullback."
"The Trump administration is rolling out the red carpet for these firms," they wrote. "The administration’s AI Action Plan aims to accelerate AI adoption within the government and military by pushing changes to regulatory and procurement processes. Government contracting offers stable, often lucrative long-term contracts—exactly what these firms will need if the private market for AI dips."
"Federal policy has jumped the gun: We don’t yet know if AI will transform the economy or even be profitable," West and Kak added. "Yet Washington is insulating the industry from all sorts of risk. If a bubble does pop, we’ll all be left holding the bag."
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Trump Trashes 'Big, Fat, Rich Insurance Companies.' Progressives: 'Wait Until We Tell You About Medicare for All'
"If we had Medicare for All everyone would have healthcare with no premiums, deductibles or co-payments and we’d save $650 billion and 68,000 lives a year."
Nov 19, 2025
President Donald Trump on Tuesday proclaimed he would not sign any fix to the nation's healthcare crisis that would send money to what he termed, in all capital letters, as the "BIG, FAT, RICH INSURANCE COMPANIES, WHO HAVE MADE $TRILLIONS, AND RIPPED OFF AMERICA LONG ENOUGH"—and progressives did not hesitate to point out that by taking for-profit, private insurers out of the healthcare equation, one would quickly—if they cared about covering more people with less money—be left with something more akin to the kind of universal, publicly-supported healthcare systems that most nations in the developed world already enjoy.
"Just wait until we tell you about Medicare for All," said Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat running for the US Senate in Michigan, in response to Trump's Truth Social post.
The president has been openly railing against the insurance companies that benefit from federal subsidies that are central to the healthcare plans made available on exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but his solution—a nebulous call for direct payments to individuals who could then somehow purchase "THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER INSURANCE" with those same federal dollars.
With significant cuts to Medicaid—the largest in the program's history—and an end to ACA subsidies that could see premiums double or more for over 20 million people in the coming year, Democrats are warning of a healthcare crisis in 2026 like nothing the nation has ever seen.
But the solution being offered by Trump and his GOP allies in Congress, according to progressive critics, would only further entrench the crisis.
"Trump’s 'healthcare' plan will bankrupt and kill millions of Americans," warned Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, a single-payer advocacy group. "We can eliminate the private insurance industry, and save $650 billion per year with Medicare for All—which would cover everyone, save families money, and include dental, vision, prescriptions, and long-term care."
"We can eliminate the private insurance industry, and save $650 billion per year with Medicare for All."
On Sunday, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), went on "Face the Nation" in order to put some "meat on the bone" regarding direct payments and said his office was working closely with Trump's White House on the proposal.
WATCH: @SenBillCassidy tells @margbrennan about his health care proposal, saying he wants to "...take the $26 billion that would be going to insurance companies" if the enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act are extended, and instead "give it directly to the American… pic.twitter.com/xPLScs7YU8
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 14, 2025
Essentially, what the Cassidy-Trump plan would do is replace federal subsidies for inadequate health plans with high deductibles from private insurance giants with federal cash payments that people could only use to purchase—wait for it—inadequate health plans with high deductibles from private insurance giants.
After Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, also on Sunday, played a similar card on behalf of the Trump administration by saying, "If you had a check in the mail, you could buy the insurance you thought was best for you," immediate pushback followed.
Warren Gunnels, a longtime policy advisor to Sanders in the Senate, was among those who slammed Oz's efforts to deceive the American people by pushing the Trump administration's direct payments.
"If we had Medicare for All, everyone would have healthcare with no premiums, deductibles, or co-payments, and we’d save $650 billion and 68,000 lives a year," said Gunnels in response to Oz's remarks. "If we gave cancer patients, at most, a check for $6,500 for a $150,000 treatment, they’d go bankrupt and die an early death."
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After 'Disgusting Display' at White House, Omar Says Congress Must Stop Trump Sale of F-35s to Saudis
"Trump is prioritizing weapons-contractor profits and his own family’s business interests," said US Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Nov 19, 2025
The deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said Tuesday that lawmakers should pull out all the stops to prevent US President Donald Trump from selling F-35s to Saudi Arabia following Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's White House visit.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called the White House reception for bin Salman, who is commonly known as MBS, a "disgusting display" and a "new low in longstanding US support for the repressive monarchy," pointing to Trump's whitewashing of the crown prince's role in the horrific murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Omar also condemned Trump's attack on ABC News reporter Mary Bruce, who asked about Khashoggi's murder during the crown prince's White House visit.
"It is truly disturbing that the president of the United States dismissed Khashoggi’s entrapment, murder, and dismemberment at the hands of MBS' assassins simply as, 'things happen,'" said the Minnesota Democrat.
Omar called on fellow lawmakers to join her in working to block Trump's "reckless and corrupt deals" with the Saudis, including his proposed sale of F-35 fighter jets.
"With announced sales of F-35 warplanes and billions in financial investments, Trump is prioritizing weapons-contractor profits and his own family’s business interests, including Jared Kushner’s private equity firm that took $2 billion from MBS," said Omar, who noted that the Saudis have used US arms to devastating effect in Yemen.
The details of Trump's proposed F-35 sale are not yet fully clear, but the US president indicated on Tuesday that the agreement would not include any conditions. The Saudi regime is one of the world's worst human rights abusers, wielding the death penalty and other repressive tactics to violently crush dissent.
"We’re going to have a deal. They’ve going purchase F-35s," Trump said Tuesday. "They’re buying them from Lockheed and it’s a great plane."
Once Congress is formally notified of the proposed sale, lawmakers will have a limited window to consider a resolution of disapproval that, if passed, would block the transaction.
"While the defense industry and American billionaires will profit handsomely with the gifts Trump is doling out to MBS. The American people will be left holding the bill."
During Tuesday's meeting, Trump announced that his administration has designated Saudi Arabia as a "major non-NATO ally," a status that enhances military cooperation between the two countries. Israel is also a "major non-NATO ally" of the US.
Omar said Tuesday that "no American soldiers may be sent into harm’s way to defend Saudi Arabia" as part of the agreement "without a debate and vote of authorization from Congress."
"My Progressive Caucus colleagues and I are committed to ensuring that this remains the case," she added.
The human rights group DAWN, an organization founded by Khashoggi, also voiced concerns about the security pact, warning in a statement that Trump is working to "protect a reckless, impulsive dictator, all in the interests of personal and corporate gains."
"While the defense industry and American billionaires will profit handsomely with the gifts Trump is doling out to MBS," the group added, "the American people will be left holding the bill."
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