Kennedy Defends Trump's Drug Price Cut Math in Senate

In Washington, D.C., on April 22, 2026, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before the Senate Finance Committee that President Donald Trump calculates prescription drug price reductions using a nonstandard method, defending claims of discounts up to 600 percent under the TrumpRx program. The exchange occurred during a hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services' fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, where Democratic senators questioned the accuracy of the administration's pricing assertions.

Kennedy responded to pointed inquiries from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who challenged Trump's repeated statements that TrumpRx, a federally run website offering discounted brand-name medications, had slashed prices by 300 to 1,500 percent. Warren cited specific examples, noting that a 30-day supply of the heartburn drug Protonix costs $200 on TrumpRx, while an identical generic version, pantoprazole, is available at Costco for $16. She also highlighted a heart arrhythmia medication priced at $336 on the site, compared to $12 for its generic equivalent at the retailer. "Six hundred percent, which I think means companies should be paying you...