http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-01-26/trump-says-he-would-let-medicare-negotiate-drug-prices
Pay attention to the paragraph what says republican's highly oppose negotiating with drugs companies.
Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders have reached a major point of agreement when it comes to health care: If elected president, all three say they would seek to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
[READ: Congressional Democrats Urge NIH to Act on Drug Prices]
Trump told 1,000 supporters in Farmington, New Hampshire, Monday that such a policy would save $300 billion a year.
This was likely an exaggeration, as Medicare spent $143 billion on drugs in 2014, and total sales for the industry surpassed $317 billion. Still, his comments signal such a move will be receiving more attention.
"We don't do it. Why? Because of the drug companies," he said.
[DECISION 2016: U.S. News Covers the Race to the White House]
Allowing the government to negotiate drug prices is a position Republicans and the pharmaceutical industry heavily oppose. The U.S. is specifically banned from such a provision under the 2003 Medicare prescription drug law, though in other developed countries governments regulate medicine prices and spend less on drugs.
While negotiating drug prices has been historically backed by Democrats – including President Barack Obama – vocal support for allowing the government to control prices for drugs has yet to manifest in action, and both parties receive significant campaign donations from drug companies, with Democrats receiving more in recent cycles. Obamacare does nothing to slow the growth in spending on prescription drugs, though Sanders and Clinton have said the move would strengthen the law.
SLIDESHOW: America's Most Expensive Medicare Presciption Drugs]
Republicans acknowledge that the cost of prescription drugs is an issue both for individuals and for the federal budget. A government report released in December showed that in 2014 the rate of growth in health care spending accelerated, in large part due to expensive prescription drugs that have flooded the market.
Republicans' positions on solving the problem have focused on removing bureaucratic obstacles that slow the development of new drugs. Most drugs that are being tested never reach the public, failing safety and efficacy tests along the way, and a drug can take a decade to be developed, run through clinical trials, then be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The pharmaceutical industry has said that "arbitrary" prices set by the government would impede research and stifle innovation.
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