Washington, D.C. – In response to news that the Trump administration appointed Casey Mulligan as chief economist and chief regulatory officer at the Department of Health and Human Services, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“Despite promises to lower Americans’ healthcare costs by holding private health insurance conglomerates and their affiliated pharmacy benefit managers accountable, the Trump administration continues to do the opposite, including by appointing Casey Mulligan as healthcare affordability czar,” said Emma Freer, Senior Policy Analyst for Health Care at Economic Liberties. “Mulligan has accepted research funding from the PBM lobby, which touts his findings on its website. He should not be trusted to put the best interests of American families, healthcare providers, employers, and taxpayers above those of his Big Medicine backers.”

Mulligan’s appointment is only the latest example of the Trump administration’s corruption on healthcare:

• The administration recently settled its lawsuit against Express Scripts, the nation’s second-largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), for allegedly running an illegal rebating scheme to inflate insulin prices. Despite the Federal Trade Commission’s claims that the settlement will lower drug costs, it is riddled with loopholes that Express Scripts has already used to further slash reimbursement rates for independent pharmacies.
• After initially proposing to keep federal payments to private Medicare Advantage insurers flat amid concerns of widespread billing fraud, the administration caved to industry lobbying and finalized a 2.5% – or $13 billion – increase for 2027.
• The administration secured a non-binding pledge from private health insurers to streamline burdensome prior authorization requirements then turned around and enlisted those same insurers to expand prior authorization in traditional Medicare using AI tools, despite insurers’ financial incentives to deny care and bipartisan opposition.
• The administration launched TrumpRx, a government-run website where Big Pharma manufacturers sell brand-name drugs directly to consumers. Some TrumpRx prices are higher than what consumers would pay with insurance or for generic alternatives; and purchases don’t count toward deductibles. Most concerningly, TrumpRx stands to personally enrich Donald Trump Jr., who serves on the board of BlinkRx, a company that helps pharmaceutical manufacturers set up direct-to-consumer sales programs, like those advertised on TrumpRx.

Learn more about Economic Liberties’ Break Up Big Medicine initiative to address healthcare industry consolidation here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.