Drug companies have figured Trump out. By temporarily freezing drug prices, or putting drugs on sale that they’re unable to sell in the first place, drug companies are letting Trump pretend he’s succeeded in lowering drug costs. In reality, Trump has done virtually nothing to actually lower costs as drug prices continue to soar.

Trump has failed to lower drug prices.

Politico: “A July tweet from President Donald Trump sent panic through the C-suites of some of the world’s biggest drug companies, prompting Pfizer and nine other companies to roll back or freeze prices. But there’s less to those announcements than meets the eye. The gestures turned out to be largely symbolic — efforts to beat Trump at his own game by giving him headlines he wants without making substantive changes in how they do business.”

Bloomberg: “Long-term, prices keep going up: 255 brand drugs had increases between Feb. 1 and July 15, according to the drug pricing website GoodRx.”

Americans across the country continue to struggle with skyrocketing costs.

“The expense was too much for her parents, both public school employees. They turned to the black market, a GoFundMe campaign, insulin-swapping Facebook groups, and whatever else they could afford to keep their daughter alive.  ‘She doesn’t have an option. Without insulin, she dies,’ says her mother, Andrea Corley, of Elkins, WV. ‘It’s just a tough pill to swallow that an insurance company and pharmaceutical company can be making so much money over medically necessary medication.’” – West Virginia resident  

“Alec Smith was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes older than most, at the age of 24. The cost for insulin and other supplies was $250 a month; expensive but bearable. Then he had to get off his mother’s insurance at the age of 26 and, unable to find a reasonable plan, tried to go to the pharmacy and pay out-of-pocket. The cost was $1,300 for a month’s supply.  ‘He left without anything, thinking he could make what he had in his supplies last until payday,’ says his mother, Nicole Smith-Holt, of Richfield, MN. ‘He died about 4 days before his paycheck.’” – Minnesota resident

“Karyn Wofford dreads going to the pharmacy to pick up her insulin.  ‘I can research a plan before I choose what we’re going to do next year, but there really is no way to know what’s going to happen. The uncertainty is one of the worst parts about it,’ says Wofford, 28, a writer from Atlanta.  Like many Americans, she has a high-deductible insurance plan, so she pays out-of-pocket until reaching the deductible, and then she must contribute a hefty copay. Costs change constantly, but she has been paying $1,300 a month for Humalog, which forces her to ration her doses. The costs are why she and her husband haven't had children or bought a home.” – Georgia resident

“I just bought 2 vials of insulin for my daughter cost me $524. With a discount card. All I could buy. I left the pharmacy and sat in My car and cried. I would never tell her this. I’ll  tell her I was able to get from work because she knows I don’t have $. I have love and worry 24/7” – New York resident

“Jon Yeagley makes a 12-hour round-trip drive to Canada every three months to buy a medication to treat his 20-year-old-son’s alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. A year’s worth of the medication costs $15k from Canada, versus $50k in the US.” – Pennsylvania resident