Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump’s ‘Great Healthcare Plan’ Skirts Issue Of Skyrocketing Obamacare Costs
Stat: Trump Unveils What He Calls 'The Great Healthcare Plan'
President Trump on Thursday released a hodgepodge of health care policies that would create new price-control power over pharmaceutical companies, but that otherwise wouldn’t fundamentally overhaul America’s existing system, as he faces mounting pressure to address the cost of insurance and care. The proposal, which Trump dubbed “The Great Healthcare Plan,” would not reshape the structure of Medicare, Medicaid, or the health insurance plans people get through their jobs. Hospitals and doctors would not cede pricing power. (Payne, Herman and Wilkerson, 1/15)
NPR: Trump Health Care Plan Doesn't Help People Facing Skyrocketing ACA Premiums
The plan does not include a remedy for people who buy their health insurance on HealthCare.gov, some of whom are facing sky-high premium hikes this month. (Simmons-Duffin and Gringlas, 1/15)
NewsNation: Trump Health Care Plan Excludes Those With Preexisting Conditions
Critics of Trump’s proposal say the framework is incomplete and does not account for people with preexisting conditions, a caveat White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Thursday. “The president’s plan that he outlined today will have no impact on individuals in this country with preexisting conditions. Obviously, that’s a continued conversation that the White House will have with Congress, but that’s not the president’s intention with the ‘Great Healthcare Plan,'” Leavitt told reporters. (Nieves, 1/16)
The Guardian: ‘Absolutely No Detail’: Experts Alarmed As Trump Unveils Healthcare Plan
“This plan is more about increasing the number of uninsured, on top of the 10 million who will already lose coverage under HR1, the budget reconciliation law from last summer," said Edwin Park, a research professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. ... Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh who teaches courses on health policy and health politics, said in a statement that “it isn’t clear that the plans the Trump administration wants to help people to purchase would be ACA-compliant, which would mean that while healthy patients may enjoy cost savings, there won’t be remotely sufficient protection for the millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions.” (Luscombe and Schreiber, 1/15)
Politico: Trump Jettisons The GOP’s Corporate Allies In Health Care Plan
Trump’s plan, notably, does not include free-market ideas in a bill House Republicans passed in December. That bill, for example, would have allowed small businesses to band together to drive harder bargains with insurers. Trump’s plan “would be a massive redefinition of the relationship between the United States government and the health care system and the American people,” said Ryan Ellis, a Republican lobbyist and president of the Center for a Free Economy. “Today was about resetting the vision and resetting the conversation so Republicans can talk on offense.” (Chu, Lim, King and Hooper, 1/15)
Read the official White House description of 'The Great Healthcare Plan' —
In related news about rural health care —
The Washington Post: Trump Bets On Rural Health As A Winning Midterm Message
An invitation obtained by The Washington Post said that the president would deliver remarks Friday at the White House on “the great, historic investment in rural health.” (Diamond, 1/16)
