By OUR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON – President DONALD TRUMP has hit British taxpayers with a massive bill to prop up US drug companies – forcing a staggering 25% price hike on life-saving medicines for the NHS.
The bombshell deal, agreed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the former US President, was announced in Washington today as part of the new U.S.-U.K. Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD).
It means the National Health Service will have to reverse a “decade-long trend” of keeping a lid on drug costs and will start paying significantly more for new, innovative medicines.
The American negotiators were in a triumphant mood, crowing that the deal will stop Brits and other developed nations from getting a “free ride” by paying less for drugs than US citizens.
Ambassador Greer, a key US negotiator, gloated: “For too long, American patients have been forced to subsidize prescription drugs… by paying a significant premium for the same products in ours.”
Health chiefs are now scrambling to figure out how the NHS can stomach the gigantic increase. The 25% jump in net price will force YOUR hard-earned cash to pour across the Atlantic.
It’s all part of a move to appease powerful US pharmaceutical giants, who have long complained that the UK’s frugal pricing schemes are unfair.
Under the new terms, the UK government has even pledged to slash the rebate rate drug companies pay back to the NHS under the Voluntary Scheme (VPAG) from its current level down to 15% in 2026.
This will stop the NHS from clawing back millions in overpayments, putting even more pressure on stretched budgets.
Starmer’s Shocker
The agreement comes just two months after Trump announced his “most-favored-nation” pricing policy – a blatant threat that appears to have worked perfectly against PM Starmer’s government.
In return for the huge financial pain, the US is simply agreeing not to slap trade tariffs on UK-made pharmaceuticals.
Secretary Howard Lutnick of the US Department of Commerce hailed the deal as a “major win for American workers and our innovation economy.”
And even Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the US Health and Human Services Secretary, piled in, thanking Trump for delivering “results that put Americans first.”
The deal will spark fury among health campaigners and trade unionists who have long feared that a US trade deal would force the privatisation and financial ruin of the beloved NHS.
