Health Care

Drug prices compared with other countries

30 public statements from 2026 candidates

§1The range of views

Why this matters: This affects what you pay at the pharmacy, what Medicare and Medicaid spend on medicines, and how much drug makers earn.

Drafted by AI, then checked for neutral wording in a separate AI review. It describes the question and the main positions, not any candidate's view. Facts link to their sources.

Whether to tie what Americans pay for prescription drugs to the prices drug makers charge in other wealthy countries, which a federal study found were lower in 2022, especially for brand-name drugs.1

  1. Leave US prices to the market and to negotiation
  2. Seek prices like other wealthy countries pay through deals with drug makers, without a law requiring it
  3. Require that Medicare and Medicaid pay no more than other wealthy countries do
  4. Require that all US buyers pay no more than other wealthy countries do

These options describe policies, not people. The order is not a ranking.

§2What candidates have said

Why this matters: Statements candidates made publicly, summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Candidates who haven't spoken publicly on this issue aren't listed.

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

Require that Medicare and Medicaid pay no more than other wealthy countries do (1)

  • Kevin E. Martin GA-6
    His campaign website says that if other developed countries pay a lower price for the same medication, that price should be the ceiling for what the federal government pays.2

Require that all US buyers pay no more than other wealthy countries do (9)

  • Connie Chan CA-11
    Her campaign website says she would require drug companies to offer medicines at no more than the lowest price charged in similar countries, such as France.3
  • Ro Khanna CA-17
    His campaign website says he introduced a bill with Senator Bernie Sanders requiring that Americans pay no more for prescription drugs than people in countries such as Canada, Germany and Japan.4
  • Randy Villegas CA-22
    His campaign website says he would cap the prices of medical procedures and prescription drugs across the board at levels in line with other major countries.5
  • Mike Sell FL-4
    His campaign's platform calls for tying U.S. drug prices to an international index, allowing imports of FDA-approved drugs from countries with equivalent safety standards, and letting Medicare negotiate the price of every covered drug.6
  • Sean Casten IL-6
    His campaign website lists cosponsoring the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which it says would stop drug companies from charging Americans more than other countries for the same medication.7
  • Charles Booker KY Senate
    His campaign website says he would cap what drug companies can charge by tying U.S. drug prices to the prices they charge in other countries, such as Canada.8
  • Zach Dembo KY-6
    His campaign website says he will push for a law to make drug companies charge the same in the U.S. as they do overseas.9
  • Sherrod Brown OH Senate special
    His campaign website says it should be illegal for drug companies to charge Americans more than they charge in other countries.10
  • Jeff Merkley OR Senate
    His campaign website calls for banning drug companies from charging more for a drug in the United States than they charge in Canada, Europe and Japan.11

Statements that don't match one option (20)

  • Eric Jones CA-4
    His campaign website says he would use the size of the U.S. market to force fairer global drug pricing, so that a company selling a drug for less in Europe cannot charge American families far more for it.12
  • Ritesh Tandon CA-17
    An earlier policy page still on his campaign website says the United States should not pay for most of drug makers' recovery of development costs, and proposes letting drugs that companies sell abroad be imported and sold here and requiring two or three U.S. suppliers for each drug.13
  • Sam Gallucci CA-26
    His campaign website says he would lower prescription costs by offering direct-to-consumer and most-favored-nation pricing options.14
  • Samir Ezzeldin Witta CO-6
    His campaign website says Americans pay many times what other countries pay for the same medicines and that drug prices should reflect the science and world prices.15
  • Leela Gray FL-13
    Her campaign website says she will take on drug companies that charge Americans far more than patients elsewhere pay for the same medicines.16
  • Robert People FL-15
    His healthcare plan says he would support a reference-based pricing requirement, under which the government sets a maximum price for a drug based on what the company charges in other countries, as Germany and France do.17
  • Jonathan Chavez GA-13
    His platform says negotiated Medicare target prices should be benchmarked to what patients pay in peer nations.18
  • Joe Mitchell IA-2
    His campaign website says prescription drug and insulin prices for Americans should be comparable to those of other developed countries.19
  • Sarah Zabel ID-1
    Her health care plan says she would use international reference pricing to anchor what Medicare pays to what other wealthy nations pay, and apply that discipline to the commercial market over time.20
  • Emre Houser ID-2
    His platform page says he supports President Trump's efforts to bring down the cost of medicine, and that American consumers should not subsidize drug prices and research for the rest of the world.21
  • Bill Foster IL-11
    His campaign website says there is no reason Americans should be forced to pay far more than people in other countries for the same medication.22
  • John "Drew" Williams KY-1
    His campaign website proposes capping prices of non-essential brand-name drugs at 1.5 to 2 times the prices in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and capping profit margins at 15% per dose for essential medications.23
  • Lori Loureiro Trahan MA-3
    Her campaign website says Americans pay more than double what other countries pay for prescription drugs and that she is committed to rectifying this.24
  • Moshe Y. Landman MD-6
    His campaign website proposes nationwide bulk pharmaceutical price negotiation matching international benchmarks, which it says would save $75 billion a year.25
  • Mike Rogers MI Senate
    His campaign website says drugs should not cost more in Michigan than in Canada, and that he would expand access to TrumpRx, which it says uses the government's bulk buying power to lower prices, and speed approval of lower-cost generics.26
  • Brinker Harding NE-2
    His campaign website says he would take on drug makers and insurers so that Americans pay prescription drug prices on par with those in other developed countries.27
  • Stefany Shaheen NH-1
    Her campaign website says drug makers should stop charging people in the United States higher prices than people in other countries pay for the same medicines, and says people in New Hampshire pay two to four times as much as Canadians.28
  • Jeff Van Drew NJ-2
    The page says he was among the first in Congress to back President Trump's plan to lower prescription drug prices by closing the gap between what Americans pay and what other countries pay. It includes a statement from him that linking US payments to prices in other developed countries makes sense.29
  • Herb Conaway NJ-3
    His campaign website says U.S. prescription drug prices are much higher than in any other country, and that he supports efforts to take New Jersey's cost caps on life-saving drugs to the national level.30
  • Deb Haaland NM Governor
    Her healthcare plan says she would create a program setting upper payment limits for high-cost drugs in private insurance, based on the best prices available in other countries.31