In Free-Wheeling Speech, Trump Attacks Democrats’ Health Plans, Alleges Drug Makers Are Behind Impeachment Efforts
President Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of mainly senior citizens at The Villages, Fla. The official White House event was structured around the signing of an executive order designed to strengthen the Medicare Advantage program but had many of the characteristics of a campaign rally as the president pledged to protect the Medicare program from what he described as "socialist destruction."
The Washington Post:
Trump Attacks Democrats’ Health Care Plans And Pledges To Protect Medicare During Political Speech To Florida Retirees
President Trump blasted his potential Democratic presidential rivals in a highly political speech here Thursday, telling a group of senior citizens that “maniac” Democrats would rip away their health care, decimate their retirement accounts and prioritize undocumented immigrants over U.S. citizens. (Olorunnipa and Goldstein, 10/3)
The Associated Press:
Trump Cites His Support For Medicare, Slams Medicare For All
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused Democrats of an all-out attempt to “totally obliterate Medicare” and portrayed himself as the program’s defender as he signed a directive to expand the program’s private insurance options. Trump skipped past his own proposals for Medicare budget cuts, and he ignored the fact that no Democrat is proposing to take coverage or benefits away from seniors. (Freking and Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/3)
The New York Times:
Trump Uses Health Care Announcement To Brand Democrats As Socialists
While the Medicare for All Act proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont would indeed cover all Americans under a single national health insurance program, most of the other Democratic presidential candidates want to give people the option of buying into Medicare, or a similar “public option,” but do not require it. That did not stop Mr. Trump from pitching himself in a critical swing state as the bulwark against a raid on health care benefits that members of his audience rely on. (Karni and Goodnough, 10/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Targets Medicare For All In Re-Election Campaign
Mr. Trump’s pivot to health care comes as he seeks to shift attention away from the Democrats’ impeachment efforts over his July call with the president of Ukraine. The White House schedule called the Thursday event an “executive order protecting Medicare from socialist destruction.” Mr. Trump also suggested, without offering evidence, that the pharmaceutical industry might have a role in the impeachment effort. (Armour, 10/3)
Politico:
Trump Promotes Private Medicare Coverage, Drawing Contrast With Democrats' Health Care Plans
"They want to raid Medicare to fund a thing called socialism," Trump said, standing in front of backdrop with the words "Great Healthcare For You." The speech is a part of the White House's efforts to put Trump's health care agenda at the forefront of his reelection campaign, hoping to attract swing voters uncomfortable with his attacks on the Affordable Care Act or a fully government-run health care system championed by two of his chief 2020 Democratic rivals, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Trump has recently rolled out a series of health care initiatives, including an overhaul of kidney care and proposed new price transparency measures, and plans to issue more in the coming months. (Roubein, 10/3)
Kaiser Health News and Politifact:
Trump Speech Offers Dizzying Preview Of His Health Care Campaign Strategy
President Donald Trump offered a preview of what his 2020 health agenda might look like in a speech Thursday — blasting Democratic proposals for reform and saying he would tackle issues such as prescription drug prices and affordability. He outlined the pillars of his health care vision, which included protecting vulnerable patients; delivering affordable care and prescription drugs; providing choices and control; and improving care for veterans. (Luthra, 10/3)
The Hill:
Trump Attacks 'Medicare For All' In Florida, Accuses Dems Of Wanting To Fund 'Socialism'
President Trump on Thursday attacked "Medicare for All" and called his Democratic presidential rivals “maniacs” as he tried to make his case on health care ahead of next year’s election. Trump, speaking at The Villages, a sprawling retirement community in the key swing state of Florida, sought to portray himself as a protector of Medicare for seniors, in contrast to Democratic plans to expand the program to everyone through Medicare for All. (Sullivan, 10/3)
CQ:
Trump Blasts 'Medicare For All' In Speech On Executive Order
President Donald Trump focused his campaign on health care Thursday, contrasting his positions with Democratic presidential candidates as he criticized government-run coverage and signed an executive order to strengthen private Medicare plans. “As long as I am president, no one will lay a hand on your Medicare benefits,” Trump said in a speech at The Villages, a retirement community in the politically important state of Florida, which Trump won by a single percentage point in 2016. (Clason, 10/3)
The speech was pegged to Trump's signing of an executive order -
NPR:
Targeting 'Medicare For All' Proposals, Trump Lays Out His Vision For Medicare
The executive order he signed had previously been titled "Protecting Medicare From Socialist Destruction" on the White House schedule but has since been renamed "Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation's Seniors." (Simmons-Duffin, 10/3)
USA Today:
Trump Shifts Focus To Medicare Amid Ukraine, Impeachment Inquiry
Trump outlined proposed changes to provide more plan choices for Medicare, the government's flagship fee-for-service program for Americans who are 65 and older. The order aims to lower premiums in Medicare Advantage, the plan offered by private insurers that covers nearly a third of Medicare's 60 million beneficiaries. (Subramanian, Jackson and Fritze, 10/3)
ProPublica:
They’re Retired. They’re Insured. The Government Pays For It. And Trump Loves It.
Under Medicare Advantage, the federal government still foots the bill, but it is a starkly different model than the universal, Medicare-for-all plans some Democratic presidential candidates are pushing. Medicare Advantage has come under scrutiny recently from everyone from health care advocates to the U.S. Department of Justice. Insurers in the program have been criticized for cherry-picking customers by moving into the healthiest communities that offer the best chance of profit and for overbilling the government for unjustified services. (Johnson, 10/3)
Reuters:
Trump Woos Seniors With Order To Boost Medicare Health Program
The executive order follows measures his administration rolled out in recent months designed to curtail drug prices and correct other perceived problems with the U.S. healthcare system. Policy experts say the efforts are unlikely to slow the tide of rising drug prices in a meaningful way. (Mason, 10/3)
Modern Healthcare:
New Medicare Benefits Encouraged By Trump Executive Order
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that aims to improve Medicare by giving seniors access to more innovative, affordable plan options. The order, titled Protecting and Improving Medicare for our Nation's Seniors, directs HHS to propose regulations and implement administrative actions that encourage Medicare Advantage plans, in particular, to offer innovative plan designs and benefits including telehealth services and supplemental benefits not available in the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program. (Livingston, 10/3)
Also during the speech, Trump boasted that prescription drug prices have fallen during his administration, a point that triggers debate. He also criticized the pharmaceutical industry, charging that drug makers are behind the push for impeachment -
Stat:
White House Insists Drug Prices Are Falling, But Critics Say Report Is Flawed
In a bid to seize the narrative on prescription drug pricing, the White House issued a report that criticized a steady stream of news stories for saying prices are rising and, instead, argued that an economic index shows prices have actually fallen recently. However, the effort was quickly denounced because the index does not account for all medicines, including some newer and pricier drugs. (Silverman, 10/3)
Read this earlier, related KHN/PolitiFact check on the issue: Mulvaney: Trump Brought Down Drug Prices For The First Time In 50 Years (Luthra, 4/15).
Politico:
Trump Baselessly Accuses Drug Industry Of Fueling Impeachment Push
President Donald Trump charged Thursday without evidence that the pharmaceutical industry was behind House Democrats' impeachment proceedings, suggesting it was payback for his administration's effort to lower drug costs. "Lowering the cost of prescription drugs, taking on the pharmaceutical companies, you think that’s easy, it’s not easy. It’s not easy. ... I wouldn’t be surprised if the hoax didn’t come a little bit from some of the people that we’re taking on." Trump said. (Karlin-Smith and Owermohle, 10/3)
Stat:
Trump Implies Drug Industry Is Behind Impeachment
President Trump is back in attack mode — and drug companies are again a clear target. In a rowdy, hourlong speech at a sprawling Florida retirement home, Trump renewed his pointed criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry, even implying they may have been behind the recent push to open a formal impeachment investigation. ...The impromptu rally remarks included some of Trump’s most vicious attacks against drug makers since his first speech as president-elect in 2017, when he claimed the industry was “getting away with murder.” (Florko, 10/3)
