Image: The Hill
Image: The Hill

In a weekend interview with The Washington Post, President-elect Donald Trump offered some surprising news, declaring he is nearly finished with his plan to replace President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Trump, who is less than a week away from beginning his four-year presidential term, did not reveal the specifics of his health care replacement but vowed his plan would “have insurance for everybody.”

Trump continued, “There was a philosophy in some circle s that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”

While Trump did not elaborate on the details of his plan, he did reveal that it’s formulated down the to the “final strokes.” He said he is waiting for his secretary of health and human services, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), to be confirmed before he releases the specifics.

While he was tight-lipped about most aspects of his plan, which will replace most aspects of Obamacare, he did make his intentions to target pharmaceutical companies well known. He revealed that drug companies will be forced to negotiate on Medicare and Medicaid prices. Trump also declared his plan will have lower deductibles because he plans to fight pharmaceutical companies over drug prices. “They’re politically protected, but not anymore,” he said

In developing his replacement plan, Trump acknowledged that he paid attention to critics who say that repealing the Affordable Care Act would put coverage at risk for more than 20 million Americans covered under the law’s insurance exchanges and Medicaid expansion.

“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” Trump said. “It’ll be another plan. But they’ll be beautifully covered. I don’t want single-payer. What I do want is to be able to take care of people” He also insisted that Americans “can expect to have great health care. It will be in a much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better.”

Last week, Congress took a big step toward dismantling the ACA by approving a budget resolution that would begin repealing the healthcare law. According to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the budget vote gives Congress “the tools we need for a step-by-step approach to fix these problems and put Americans back in control of their health care.”

While Trump seems all but ready to reveal and implement his replacement plan, there will likely be months of debate and Congressional infighting before the law is passed. However, Trump has warned Congress that he will use the power of his presidency (and social media) to let the American people know that Washington politicians are delaying the implementation of his replacement plan. He noted, “The Congress can’t get cold feet because the people will not let that happen.”


To learn more about President-elect Trump’s comments about his forthcoming Obamacare replacement plan and his declaration to fight pharmaceutical companies over drug prices, visit mymedicareplanner.com and contact Tommy Chamouris. Tommy and his staff are committed to protecting senior citizens and helping them navigate through the “Medicare maze”—at no additional cost. See our ad on page 1 of Boomer magazine.

23975375121Since Trump’s election last November, there has been a lot of speculation over how the President-elect will overhaul and revamp America’s healthcare industry.

With his recent appointments of Seema Verma to serve as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Georgia Representative Tom Price as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there is more clarity on Trump’s vision; and, despite the hysteria, many within the health industry are encouraged by what could be in store.

Throughout the election, Donald Trump declared he would “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. Now that he’s elected, it seems highly likely that Trump will deliver on his promise. Although many predicted this would be a nightmare scenario, it seems that hospitals and health insurers are pleasantly surprised with the President-elect’s first steps.

Trump’s appointments of Rep. Price and Verma, along with his recent softening on some aspects of the Affordable Care Act, is a signal to some insiders that instead of chaos, he is preparing an orderly transition to replace Obama’s health program with a plan that healthcare companies may want.

Rep. Price is an orthopedic surgeon who has drafted legislation to replace the ACA. Meanwhile, Verma has close ties to Vice President-elect Mike Pence and helped design his ACA Medicaid expansion model, Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0. She has also advised several states on how to add elements such as health savings accounts and employment requirements to their programs. If both are confirmed, experts predict more power will be granted to states in crafting individual insurance plans and Medicaid programs.

“Pence and Trump have made a big deal about giving the states more flexibility and autonomy in managing their Medicaid programs and [Verma] would appear to be the perfect person, given her expertise, to manage that rollout of more state flexibility,” said Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates.

Of course, some have been critical of Trump’s choices and his declaration to repeal and replace the ACA. There is a fear that millions of Americans will instantly lose health insurance and there will be even more uncertainty surrounding Medicare and Medicaid. However, lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have indicated that although they will work to repeal the ACA immediately, there will be a two-year transition period to phase out the law and citizens currently insured by the program won’t be left without a safety net.

One plan, proposed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, will offer individual insurance with a form of Federal subsidies, provide block grant funding for Medicaid, create vouchers for Medicare coverage, and the eliminate the advance paid premium subsidies for individual insurance. Many believe Ryan’s plan will serve as the foundation of the eventual replacement plan. In the meantime, members in Congress have been already asking healthcare companies for input and advice on functional alternatives for the ACA.

While the future of healthcare under the Trump administration is still uncertain, the President-elect’s recent appointments and proposals have excited many healthcare professionals, including Kathleen Harrington, chair of Policy of Government Relations for the Mayo Clinic. Harrington is pleased with what she has heard so far from the administration over the past few weeks. She notes, “We are very encouraged with the approach we’re hearing so far from President-elect Trump in terms of having a focused review and removing certain parts of it.”

To learn more about Donald Trump’s recent appointments and his plans to reform America’s healthcare system, visit mymedicareplanner.com and contact Tom Chamouris. Tom and his staff are committed to protecting senior citizens and helping them navigate through the “Medicare maze”—at no additional cost. See our ad on page 1 of Boomer magazine.

 

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