US prescription drug prices recorded their sharpest annual decline in decades, but experts cited by The Washington Post linked much of the fall to a Biden-era Medicare policy.

US President Donald Trump has highlighted a sharp fall in prescription drug prices as evidence of progress under his administration, but the claim has run into an awkward complication: experts cited in a Washington Post report said a key Biden-era policy is more likely to have driven the decline.

Trump displayed a printout of the newspaper’s headline at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday after prescription drug prices recorded their steepest annual decline in more than six decades.

The prescription drug index fell 3.1 per cent in the year to July, according to the latest US Consumer Price Index data cited by The Washington Post. The newspaper reported that independent health economists pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act and Medicare’s new drug-price negotiation programme as a major factor.

Trump Showcases Price Drop

Trump appeared keen to use the figures to reinforce his claims that his administration is delivering lower healthcare costs.

The White House circulated a photograph of the president holding the newspaper report, alongside the message, “POV: you bring the receipts.” White House communications officials also promoted the headline on social media.

Trump himself read the headline aloud while speaking to reporters and presented the decline as confirmation of his earlier promises on drug prices.

The newspaper report, however, offered a more complicated explanation for the fall.

Experts Point To Biden

The Washington Post cited Richard Frank, a health economist and professor emeritus at Harvard University, who said the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act was a more likely explanation for the decline than Trump's policies.

Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University, similarly pointed to the Medicare negotiation programme created under the 2022 law.

The Inflation Reduction Act gave Medicare the power to negotiate prices for selected high-cost medicines for the first time. The first negotiated prices took effect on January 1, 2026.

Medicare Negotiations Begin

The Biden administration signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022. Under the programme, Medicare negotiated prices for 10 high-cost Part D medicines during the first round.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the negotiated prices could have reduced net spending on those medicines by an estimated $6 billion if they had applied in 2023. The negotiated prices represented discounts ranging from 38 per cent to 79 per cent against the drugs’ list prices.

CMS estimated that Medicare beneficiaries could save about $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs in 2026 as a result of the first negotiated prices.

Trump Administration Also Acts

The Biden-era programme does not mean the Trump administration has played no role in subsequent drug-pricing policy.

CMS has continued implementing and expanding Medicare negotiations under Trump. In January 2026, the agency announced 15 additional medicines for the third negotiation cycle, including the first drugs payable under Medicare Part B. Those negotiated prices are scheduled to take effect in 2028.

The Trump administration has also pursued its own initiatives aimed at lowering prescription drug costs.

That distinction makes the political dispute more complicated than the White House social-media posts suggest.

Sharp Drop Raises Questions

The 3.1 per cent annual decline represents a significant movement in the prescription drug component of the CPI. The Washington Post described it as the largest year-over-year decline since 1963.

However, the CPI measures price movements across a broad basket of prescription medicines. It does not by itself establish that one administration or one policy caused the entire decline.

The timing of the Medicare negotiations is nevertheless significant because the first negotiated prices became effective at the start of 2026.

Policy Fight Gets Political

Drug prices have become a politically important issue in Washington, with both Republicans and Democrats seeking credit for measures that reduce costs for patients.

Trump has repeatedly made lower drug prices a central part of his economic and healthcare agenda. The White House's decision to spotlight the Washington Post headline reflects that political importance.

But the same report cited economists who attributed much of the recent movement to legislation enacted before Trump returned to office.

What Happens Next

The debate over credit is likely to continue as more negotiated prices take effect and additional medicines enter the Medicare programme.

CMS has already completed negotiations covering 25 high-expenditure medicines during the programme's first two years, while its 2026 proposal seeks to establish a longer-term framework for future negotiations.

For American patients, the more significant question will be whether the decline in prescription drug prices continues and translates into lower costs at pharmacies, rather than which president gets political credit for the change.