President Donald Trump has shared details about the Great Healthcare Plan, which aims at lowering drug prices and insurance premiums. “President Donald J. Trump is calling on Congress to enact the Great Healthcare Plan, a comprehensive plan to lower drug prices, lower insurance premiums, hold big insurance companies accountable, and maximize price transparency,” the White House said in a statement.
What we know about Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan
The White House explained in its statement, shared publicly, “The Great Healthcare Plan calls for codifying the Trump Administration’s Most-Favored-Nation deals to get Americans the same low prices for prescription drugs that people in other countries pay. This would build off President Trump’s landmark actions that made insulin more affordable in his first term and the successful voluntary negotiations following his recent Executive Order to lower drug prices. Voluntarily negotiated deals with HHS/CMS will be grandfathered in.”
The White House further said that the plan makes “more verified safe pharmaceutical drugs available for over-the-counter purchase.” It said that this move will end up lowering healthcare costs and increasing consumer choice by “strengthening price transparency, increasing competition, and reducing the need for costly and time-consuming doctor’s visits.”
The plan also aims at lowering insurance premiums, the White House stated. Instead of sending big insurance companies billions in extra taxpayer-funded subsidy payments, the plan sends the money directly to eligible Americans so they can buy the health insurance of their choice.
The White House explained, “The Great Healthcare Plan funds a cost-sharing reduction program for healthcare plans which would save taxpayers at least $36 billion and reduce the most common Obamacare plan premiums by over 10% according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Great Healthcare Plan will end the kickbacks paid by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the large brokerage middlemen that deceptively raise the cost of health insurance.”
Under the plan, health insurance companies are required to publish rate and coverage comparisons on their websites in “plain English,” instead of industry jargon. It will also require these companies to publish on their websites the percentage of their revenues that are paid out to claims versus overhead costs and profits. The companies will also have to publish the percentage of insurance claims they reject and average wait times for routine care.
“The Great Healthcare Plan requires any healthcare provider or insurer who accepts Medicare or Medicaid to prominently post their pricing and fees in their place of business,” added the White House.
Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan, however, has received some pushback from House Democrats, who wrote in an X post, “Trump’s so-called “Great Healthcare Plan” does nothing to lower health care costs. Millions of Americans CANNOT afford their health insurance. It should be called the “Worst Healthcare Plan”.