Key Tenets of Trump's Health Care Plan Revealed
President Donald Trump unveiled his new health care plan last week, providing a glimpse into the top priorities of the administration as the previous enhanced premium subsidies expire. Read on for more information about Trump's recently unveiled "Great Health Care Plan."
Basic Framework of Trump's Health Care Plan Revealed
The Trump administration released its solution for tackling the rising cost of health care. However, while the plan gave a look into the key issues facing Americans, it did not offer precise details about how the White House will address these problems. Instead, the plan charges Congress with recommending and implementing the specific legislation needed to make the real changes.
As expected, the president's plan includes goals of reducing the prices of prescription drugs, lowering overall health insurance premiums, and providing greater levels of price transparency. The plan does not advocate extending the enhanced premium subsidies that had been offered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These subsidies expired at the end of 2025, sending premiums climbing for over 20 million Americans in 2026. The Senate is currently divided about whether to extend these subsidies going forward.
The president's plan also does not include any changes to Medicare or Medicaid. These programs cover almost 150 million Americans.
The White House made health care a key theme of the day on Friday, expanding on some of the ideas released on Thursday. During the event focused on rural health care, the president said that the plan was "the biggest thing to ever happen to health care in our country."
Plans to Decrease Prescription Drug Prices
One of the cornerstone goals of Trump's approach to health care is to reduce the prices of prescription drugs. Trump is asking Congress to codify his "Most Favored Nation" deal that he signed with 16 pharmaceutical companies over the past year. These voluntary agreements between the White House and some of the nation's leading drug manufacturers guarantee that new medicines in the U.S. will be available at the lowest prices when compared to peer nations.
The drugmakers that are part of the agreements have also agreed to sell some medications at discounts to Americans who are able to pay cash through the upcoming TrumpRx program. In addition, the companies agreed to invest more in domestic manufacturing practices in exchange for being relieved from paying tariffs on pharmaceutical imports for a period of three years.
Lastly, the administration wants to give more leeway for some prescription drugs to be sold over the counter. According to Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, good candidates for this transition include many gastric ulcer and stronger nonsteroidal medications.
While these plans sound like a win-win for most parties, some medical industry experts are skeptical about how much it will lower overall drug costs.
Goal of Reducing Health Insurance Premiums
The "Great Health Care Plan" is also calling for reducing the price of health insurance premiums by sending federal subsidy money directly to Americans rather than the insurers. The White House said this would allow consumers to purchase their own insurance. While healthier people would likely incur less costs outside of the ACA marketplace, sicker enrollees who choose to remain under the ACA would likely see skyrocketing premiums.
The plan is requesting that Congress restore federal funding for a separate set of ACA subsidies designed to help lower-income participants with their out-of-pocket costs. Trump had previously eliminated this support during this first term, prompting insurers to simply raise premiums.
The Trump plan would end the kickbacks currently paid out to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to larger brokers. These kickbacks have historically led to higher insurance costs. Although PBMs say that their work helps to lower drug prices for some clients, other members of Congress believe that this middleman between drugmakers and insurers is causing prices to climb further.
Changes to the Operations of Insurance Companies and Price Transparency
Under Trump's proposed plan, insurers would be required to publish all rates and coverage comparisons in clear terms. The insurance companies would also be required to release details about the share of their revenues paid out ot claims when compared to overhead costs and profits.
Insurers are mandated to spend 80% to 85% of premiums on their policyholders' medical care under the terms of the ACA. The insurance companies would also be required to share the number of claims that they reject as well as the average wait time for decisions, hypothetically giving Americans more information when choosing a health care plan.
Under the Trump framework, any provider or insurer that accepts Medicaid and Medicare plans would be required to post all fees and prices onsite in the place of business.
The Trump administration did not provide a specific timeline for implementing these proposed changes.
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