Fact Check: Does Trump Want To End $2,000 Prescription Cap?

Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump’s plans for the future of American health care during an interview on NBC this Wednesday, claiming the former president wants to repeal drug cost protections.
In an interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson, Harris said that Trump wanted to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and remove a cap on prescription drug costs implemented as part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
However, as Newsweek found, the evidence behind the claim appears to be based on inferences from Project 2025 and the Trump campaign.
Newsweek has contacted a media representative for Kamala Harris for comment.
The Claim
During an interview on NBC on October 22, 2024, Kamala Harris claimed that Donald Trump planned “to do away with the $2,000 cap on prescription medication, the annual cap.”
The Facts
The IRA instituted a cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs to start in 2025 for millions of Medicare beneficiaries.
There has been speculation that Trump might dismantle parts of the IRA if elected in November. In September, at the Economic Club of New York, Trump attacked the Act’s climate change plans, and said he would “rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”
Democrats have used claims like these and those made by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance to signal that the Inflation Reduction Act as a whole is in trouble. An August 2024 press release named “On Inflation Reduction Act Anniversary, Trump-Vance Ticket is Pursuing a Project 2025 Agenda to Gut Landmark Legislation” listed articles where Trump and Vance have “railed against the Inflation Reduction Act.”
However, most articles it cited mention Republican interest in undoing the Act’s energy and renewable energy plans, not its health policies.
The press release also mentions how Project 2025—the policy document produced by the Heritage Foundation thought by many as a blueprint for what a Trump government would look like—advocates repealing the IRA.
It says, under plans for “Legacy Medicare Reform,” to “Repeal harmful health policies enacted under the Obama and Biden Administrations such as the Medicare Shared Savings Program and Inflation Reduction Act.”
Project 2025’s issue with the Act’s health reform seems mostly concerned with the power it granted to the federal government to negotiate some prescription drug prices, not the $2,000 price cap. Nonetheless, it does call to repeal the Act and does not single out the prescription price cap for protection.
“Until the IRA is repealed, an Administration that is required to implement it must do so in a way that is prudent with its authority, minimizing the harmful effects of the law’s
policies and avoiding even worse unintended consequences,” it states.
Trump has tried to maintain his distance from Project 2025, despite a CNN analysis finding in July that as many as 140 Trump staffers and associates worked on the paper. JD Vance has several connections to its creators including writing a foreword for Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’ upcoming book, Dawn’s Early Light: Burning Down Washington to Save America, saying he was “thrilled” to have done so and that the book contained “a bold new vision for the future of conservatism in America.” The title of the book has reportedly since been changed to Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America.
Danielle Alvarez, Trump campaign senior adviser, added that “only President Trump and the campaign, and NOT any other organization or former staff, represent policies for the second term.”
A spokesperson for Donald Trump told Newsweek that Kamala Harris had lied about Trump’s plans “to cut taxes, cut overall costs, slash drug prices, and Make American Affordable Again” but did not say whether Trump would repeal the price cap.
“There is only one candidate in this race that has a successful record of lowering drug prices, and that candidate is Donald J. Trump,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek.
The Ruling
Unverified.
This may refer to Trump’s comments about rescinding unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, which instituted a $2,000 prescription drug cap for many seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare who take these drugs from 2025.
Running mate JD Vance has attacked the legislation and Project 2025 has called for the Act’s repeal.
However, Republican disagreement with the Act has largely centered on climate and renewable energy action, not its health policies. Trump spokespeople say the former president’s campaign and policy agenda is not guided by Project 2025.
While it might seem unlikely that Trump would announce reversing prescription caps, there has been no firm denial about whether this would be sacrificed if the Inflation Reduction Act is repealed.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team