Trump's Healthcare Plan: More Talk, Less Action

Trump recently shared his "Great Healthcare Plan, " but it's not really a plan. It's more like a list of ideas that have been talked about before. The document is short and doesn't have many details. It's like a summary of things Trump has already done or said he wants to do. People on Capitol Hill didn't seem very excited about it. They shrugged it off, which suggests that the White House didn't spend much time talking to them about it. One expert said it didn't do anything positive and didn't help Congress figure out what to do about healthcare. This isn't surprising because Trump has been talking about a great healthcare plan for a long time, but he hasn't actually produced many written proposals. The few he has released are more like press releases with talking points. Trump's poll numbers are not good, and people are worried about the high cost of living, including healthcare. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums have gone up for more than 20 million Americans because a temporary boost in subsidies expired. Democrats want to renew the subsidies, but Republicans have refused.Trump's plan endorses two ideas that Republicans have been talking about. One is to put some of the subsidy money into health savings accounts. The other is to fund cost-sharing reductions, which are part of the ACA. But these ideas might not actually make healthcare cheaper for everyone. In fact, they could make it more expensive for some people and cause them to drop their coverage. Trump's plan doesn't address the bipartisan negotiations happening in Congress. It's possible that Trump and his advisers are trying to stay out of the process, but that's not going to help get a deal done. The White House says that Trump's plan is designed to lower costs for all Americans, not just the 7% who get coverage through the ACA. But it's hard to see how this plan will actually do that. Trump has talked about using government power to force down drug prices, which is an issue that he could find common ground with Democrats on. But there are no signs that he is making an effort to push congressional Republicans to pass legislation on this.