Furious Push To Craft A Health Care Campaign For Trump 2020 Reveals Sense Of Vulnerability From Republicans
White House advisers are eager to protect President Donald Trump from a repeat of the blue wave that took the House in 2018. It was widely believed that their health care message played a large part in the Democrats regaining the lower chamber. As part of the push to craft a strategy, the White House has prepared executive orders shoring up Medicare and requiring price transparency from hospitals.
The Washington Post:
White House Races To Come Up With Health-Care Wins For Trump’s Campaign
White House advisers, scrambling to create a health-care agenda for President Trump to promote on the campaign trail, are meeting at least daily with the aim of rolling out a measure every two to three weeks until the 2020 election. One of the initiatives would allow states to import lower-priced drugs from Canada and other countries and another would bar Medicare from paying more than any other country for prescription drugs, according to two senior administration officials and lobbyists — controversial ideas in line with Democratic proposals. Yet it remains unclear whether the administration has the legal authority to execute some of these policies without Congress’s approval. (Abutaleb and Dawsey, 7/31)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump To Sign Medicare Order As Part Of Attack On Democrats’ Health-Care Message
President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order next week on Medicare and moving ahead with allowing some drug imports from Canada, part of the administration’s effort to engineer a response to Democratic proposals that candidates say would expand health coverage to all Americans. The executive order would aim to strengthen Medicare for 44 million Americans and portray the president as defending it against Democrats who want to expand it nationwide under their Medicare for All strategy, a White House official said Wednesday. (Armour, Restuccia and Lucey, 7/31)
Modern Healthcare:
Trump Price Transparency Proposals Take Long Bet On Curbing Costs
Requiring hospitals to display their insurer-negotiated prices online likely won't lower healthcare spending in the near term. But economists and other experts say it's a worthwhile experiment in bringing transparency to one of the few industries in which patients often don't know the cost of a service before they buy it. The Trump administration earlier this week issued a proposed rule that would force most hospitals in the country to post on their websites the closely guarded rates for certain healthcare services that they work out with insurance companies behind closed doors. The outcry from hospital and insurance trade associations was swift. (Livingston, 7/31)
