Trump Unveils New Healthcare Affordability Plan

President Donald Trump on Jan. 15 released his administration’s new health care affordability plan, which aims to lower prices through marketplace reforms that include price negotiation, increased competition, and greater price transparency.

Trump’s “Great Healthcare Plan” includes actions the administration has already introduced or is working to implement. If codified in federal law rather than being enforced through executive orders and federal regulations, the provisions are expected to carry greater weight and be more likely to last through future administrations.

Reducing Prescription Drug Prices

The Trump administration has so far negotiated reduced drug prices for Medicaid patients with 15 pharmaceutical manufacturers through Trump’s Most-Favored Nation Prescription Drug Pricing plan.

The plan calls for pharmaceutical manufacturers to offer their lowest price on drugs to Medicaid customers, as well as to sell some drugs directly to U.S. patients at lower prices, introduce any new medications into the U.S. market at the lowest available price, and reinvest revenue realized from higher drug prices in other developed nations into the U.S. economy.

The plan would also allow more medications that are proven to be safe to be dispensed without a prescription, reducing prices by increasing competition and avoiding the expense of consulting a doctor.

Direct Payments to Consumers

The Trump plan prioritizes making federal assistance in purchasing health care directly available to consumers rather than channeling the funds through insurance companies.

Price Transparency

Trump’s plan would compel health insurers to provide more information to consumers by adopting a “Plain English Insurance” Standard in communicating rates and coverage comparisons in simple terms.

Insurers would be required to publish information on their websites on the percentage of revenue paid out in claims, the percentage of claims denied, and the average wait time for routine care.

Health care providers who accept Medicare or Medicaid would be required to prominently post their pricing and fees in their offices for patients to see.