President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a framework for lowering the cost of healthcare in the United States and urged Congress to approve legislation codifying it.

“I’m calling on Congress to pass this framework into law without delay,” Trump said, according to The Hill. “Have to do it right now so that we can get immediate relief to the American people.” 

The "Great Healthcare Plan" largely includes the codification of deals that the administration reached with pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug costs.

Since taking office, Trump has convinced a number of major pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily offer most-favored-nation pricing. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the voluntary commitments account for roughly 95% of drugs sold in the U.S.

Patient advocate groups reacted favorably to the move, with Patient Rights Advocate (PRA) Chairman and founder Cynthia Fisher asserting it would shift the balance of power away from providers and toward patients.

"President Trump’s historic healthcare price transparency announcement is the bold leadership that America's patients deserve," she said in a statement. "President Trump is taking on insurers, hospitals, and all middlemen to hold them accountable and deliver radical transparency."

"When actual prices are made known, competition follows and costs come down. The power will shift from the big insurers and hospital systems to the American worker, family, businesses, unions, and taxpayers - the true purchasers of care," she added. "The transformative power of price transparency will forever change health care and coverage for all Americans, drastically lowering costs and protecting from overcharges. This policy puts patients first."

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.