Drug companies in the U.S. are able to price medications higher in the U.S. because the country’s drug market operates as a fragmented system where companies negotiate with individual insurers or pharmacy benefit managers.

By MELISSA GOLDIN

President Donald Trump incorrectly placed the blame for high prescription drug prices in the U.S. on foreign nations, making the comments Monday when signing an executive order intended to lower their cost.

The order sets a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower prices in the U.S. or face new limits in the future over what the government will pay. If favorable deals are not reached, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties prices the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

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