Donald Trump: Medicare could save billions negotiating prescription drug costs

Donald Trump at a presidential campaign rally on September 3, 2015. By Michael Vadon

Donald Trump is calling for a change in the way Medicare deals with big pharma prices, a revision long targeted by Democrats.

In a campaign stop in Farmington, New Hampshire on Monday, the GOP front-runner said Medicare could save billions of dollars if it were allowed to directly negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, according to a story first reported in the Associated Press.

This position has been championed by Democrats and opposed by Republicans for years.

[Also: Senate committee to scrutinize drug prices set by Valeant, Turing, Retrophin and Rodelis]

Trump told the crowd that Medicare could "save $300 billion" a year if it negotiated discounts for prescription drugs, AP said.

"We don't do it," he reportedly said. "Why? Because of the drug companies."

Democrats, including the 2016 presidential candidates, have spoken in favor of giving Medicare that power.

Trump's stance comes as two federal committees examine the high price of prescription drugs. A bipartisan investigation is being conducted by a Special Senate Committee on Aging.

The Full House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing at 9 a.m. on February 4, in which major players in the pharmaceutical industry are being called upon to testify.

The hearing was rescheduled from Tuesday due to the weekend blizzard that dumped more than a foot-and-a-half of snow in the nation's capital.

Scheduled witnesses include: Dr. Janet Woodcock, director for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Howard Schiller, interim CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals; Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals; Nancy Retzlaff, chief commercial officer for Turing; and Mark Merritt, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.

Shkreli has said he wouldn't appear, citing his Fifth Amendment rights and also conditions of bail that won't let him leave New York. However, earlier this week the United States Department of Justice gave its blessing to a district court in New York to allow Shkreli to travel to Washington, D.C. to testify.

[Also: Feds clear Martin Shkreli to appear at Washington drug pricing hearing]

It is unclear whether he will appear.

Shkreli, who last year increased the price of an AIDS drug by 5,000 percent, has been charged with security fraud, security fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy, related to two hedge funds he formerly managed. He has also been slapped with a civil lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Thursday's hearing, "Developments in the Prescription Drug Market: Oversight" will address the reasoning behind the recent drug price increases, the role of pharmacy benefit managers in negotiating prices and impediments to approval of generic drugs, which can cost 80 to 85 percent less than their brand equivalents.

Wholesale prices for 30 of the top-selling U.S. drugs increased 76 percent between 2010 and 2014, which represents eight times the general inflation rate, according to information posted on the committee's website. 

Twitter: @SusanJMorse