According to financial analyst Steve Rattner, Donald Trump's executive order demanding prescription drug prices must go down was a nothing-burger that is not worth the paper it was written on.
Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Rattner pointed to the signing by Trump, who called it one of the most "consequential" moves of his presidency, as another "surreal, parallel universe Trump moment."
"He was going to lower prescription prescription drug prices by 30 to 80 percent, the executive order actually does nothing," he told the MSNBC hosts. "He doesn't have the authority to do any of those things."
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"But then he said just recently, I heard it on [MSNBC's] 'Way Too Early' this morning out in the Middle East, wherever he is, that a lot of Democrats are going to vote for this tax bill, going through Ways and Means because it was going to lower drug prices," he added before bluntly stating, "There's nothing in the tax bill that would lower drug prices."
"So the president is off on one universe and the world is on a different universe, and he is talking about a world that does exist," he pointed out.
"Why do you have Americans actually traveling around to other countries to buy drugs?" co-host Joe Scarborough asked.
"That's a great question, Joe," Rattner replied. "And there are really two reasons for it. One reason for it is because most other countries, take Britain for example which has national health insurance, they negotiate with the drug companies for the whole country at one time. And they basically say 'Here's what we're willing to pay.' The drug companies don't have as much leverage, so they lower their prices. "
"Whereas our system where, of course you have Medicare or Medicaid, you have private insurance. You have people paying for it on their own. We have a very fragmented system. So there's no equally large force operating against the drug companies," he elaborated.
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