Drug price controls aren’t the prescription Kansas needs | Opinion
When President Donald Trump took office, he did so with a clear mandate: do what must be done to make America great. He immediately got to work securing our borders, creating jobs and bringing down everyday costs for working families. But of all the rising expenses Americans face, none has been harder to control than prescription drug prices. Many ideas have been tried with mixed results, and while we’ve yet to find the perfect fix, we know which policies fail.
Congress is now considering the MFN or Most Favored Nation model, which would tie U.S. drug prices to those paid overseas. While well-intentioned, MFN relies on foreign price controls and risks, limiting innovation and access to lifesaving therapies. As a child of immigrants who grew up under socialized health care, I know the risk is not worth the reward — especially when there are alternative approaches that would yield better outcomes with a free market approach.
Across the country, conservative and pro-growth leaders are instead rallying behind a Most Favored Patient approach. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has warned that linking our prices to foreign systems would import socialist-style mandates and threaten patient access. The Committee to Unleash Prosperity — led by Steve Moore and Steve Forbes — has endorsed the Most Favored Patient framework as a market-based, America first solution that keeps patients, not bureaucrats, at the center. The Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity has echoed that message, calling it a bold, pro-innovation alternative to failed global pricing models. Even longtime conservative leaders such as Newt Gingrich have stressed that reform must “put patients before bureaucrats” and reject European-style rationing. Together, these voices are united in saying any reform must put American patients first — not foreign governments or centralized price controls.
The Most Favored Patient model would ensure lower out-of-pocket costs, greater transparency and stronger incentives for competition and innovation. It reflects a core conservative belief: America should lead, not follow, in medical breakthroughs and patient care.
We know government price controls stifle innovation and slow growth. By cutting incentives to invest in new cures, they threaten American leadership in medicine and the high-paying jobs that come with it. The prices MFN seeks to mimic come from nations with socialized systems that ration care and limit access. Is it worth copying those systems just to claim lower prices on a handful of drugs?
Instead of importing socialism, we should pursue conservative reforms that actually reduce costs — reining in pharmacy benefit managers, expanding transparency and cutting red tape to encourage competition. A Most Favored Patient approach would achieve those goals while keeping patients first, protecting innovation and ensuring affordability for those who need it most.
As President Trump continues working to lower costs, we owe it to our neighbors to help him finish the job. Let’s support American businesses, protect American patients and reduce prescription costs the right way — through a Most Favored Patient approach that keeps America first.
State Rep. Samantha Poetter Parshall represents Miami County and parts of southeast Kansas, where she champions conservative values and limited government.