Who The Trump Administration Is Blaming
Since Donald Trumps healthcare failure is partly due to the faulty projections of the previous administration, he might believe that Obamacare red tape is more of a hindrance than a help. For example, the attempt to monopolize healthcare has made it more difficult to schedule house visits or engage in telemedicine. That is unfortunate because telemedicine could improve rural healthcare.
Americans want to be free to choose their doctors and medical care. President Donald Trump is in lock-step with the American public on these policy issues. Trump blames the government for holding back medicine because it has created a virtual monopoly, not a free market.
Perfect competition, information, and free markets encourage innovations and lower costs. No government has an incentive to cut costs because of its bottom line taxes, not productivity, efficiency, or quality. President Donald Trump might blame the healthcare policy of the previous administration for rising healthcare prices. Trumps new vision for healthcare emphasizes competition, choice and the private sector.
Trumps Bold Healthcare Plan
In his press release of December 3, 2018, President Trumps bold healthcare plan was revealed – Reforming Americas Healthcare System Through Choice and Competition. Healthcare prices continue to rise, but Americans are not receiving the commensurate benefit of living better lives, according to Trump. Both Trump and Obama want to improve affordability. They simply disagree on the means to that end. President Trump has advocated the following solutions:
Growing Number Of Black And Latino Americans Are Optimistic For Future Generations
Carrie Dann
WASHINGTON Amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic, a suddenly uncertain economy and mass protests against racial injustice in the United States, dissatisfaction about the current state of the country has reached record highs. But according to a new Pew Research Center poll, a key group Black and Latino Americans are also significantly more optimistic than they were last year that life will be better for future generations than it is now.
The Pew survey, which was conducted between June 16 and 22, found that a third of Black Americans 33 percent now say that future generations will be better off. While thats far from a majority, its almost double the share who said the same in September 2019.
There was a smaller jump in optimism among Latinos, with 26 percent saying that future generations will be better off, compared with just 16 percent who said the same last fall.
The shifts come after the death of George Floyd sparked mass protests against police violence, racial profiling and injustice in law enforcement. Other public surveys since the protests began have found that some of the core messages of the demonstrations including the belief that police are more likely to use deadly force in encounters with Black suspects have quickly gained traction with the American electorate at large.
The online panel poll was conducted June 16-22 and has an overall margin of error of +/- 1.8 percentage points.
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May 10 201: Cms Publishes Federal Rule Requiring Pharmaceutical Companies To List Drug Prices In Television Ads
On May 10, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services , an agency within the Department of Health & Human Services , published a rule that required pharmaceutical companies to include the list price, also known as the wholesale acquisition cost, of certain prescription drugs in television advertisements. The requirement applied to medicine covered by Medicare or Medicaid and did not apply to drugs with a cost of $35 or less.
According to the summary of the final rule published in the Federal Register, the rule was intended to make Medicare and Medicaid administration more efficient by giving beneficiaries of the programs more information about the costs of drugs. CMS argued that the new rule would use public scrutiny to pressure manufacturers into lowering drug prices and would equip patients to make more informed healthcare decisions. Under the rule, television advertisements for prescription drugs were required to state the cost for a 30-day supply. The rule was to go into effect on July 9, 2019.
Tipton The Latest Incumbent To Lose Partys Nomination
Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON There was a big surprise in Tuesdays primary elections five-term incumbent Colorado Republican Rep. Scott Tipton lost to Lauren Boebert, a gun-rights activist and restaurant owner who flouted coronavirus regulations and has spoken favorably about a fringe conspiracy theory.
Incumbents rarely lose, especially in a primary. But Tipton joins a handful of other incumbents whose parties voted them out so far this cycle.
Heres a look at the House incumbents who have already lost their partys nomination, and how they went down.
llinois Democratic Rep. Daniel Lipinski
The writing was on the wall for Lipinski, one of the only House Democrats who had supported anti-abortion rights legislation.
While nonprofit executive Marie Newman fell just a few thousand votes short to Lipinski in 2018, Newman was able to get over the hump and take Lipinski down in the 2020 primary.
Newman had a lot of progressive allies in her corner a group affiliated with EMILYs List spent about $1 million on TV ads to boost her, and several influential progressive groups, including NARAL, backed her primary bid.
Illinois third congressional district, which includes a portion of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, is considered a safely-Democratic one, as 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won it by double-digits. So Newman is expected to join Congress in 2021.
Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King
Kings loss came after a cost him support within his own party.
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House Bill: American Health Care Act Of 2017
On March 6, 2017, House Republicans introduced the American Health Care Act of 2017 , a reconciliation bill that proposed modifying the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , also known as Obamacare. The bill did not propose repealing the ACA in its entirety, a move that was criticized by some conservatives who called for a full repeal of President Barack Obama‘s signature healthcare law.
The bill proposed repealing the penalties on individuals for not maintaining health coverage and on employers for not offering coverage. The ACA’s subsidies for purchasing insurance would have ended, as would have enhanced federal funding for states that expanded Medicaid. The bill also proposed a system of tax credits, based on age rather than income, and a penalty in the form of increased premiums for individuals who did not maintain continuous coverage.
On May 4, 2017, the House passed the AHCA by a vote of 217-213.
Senate Dems Call On Postal Service Board To Reverse Changes Amid Concerns About Mail
Leigh Ann Caldwell
WASHINGTON Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other top Senate Democrats are increasing pressure on the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to reverse changes enacted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy amid concerns those changes could hurt the Postal Services ability to handle mail-in votes this fall.
The letter expands scrutiny of the Postal Service beyond DeJoy and to the six-member Board of Governors, all of whom were appointed by President Donald Trump.
You have the responsibility to reverse those changes and the authority to do so, the senators wrote.
The letter sent to the Board of Governors Monday morning and provided to NBC News is the latest effort by Congressional Democrats to halt and reverse the policy and operating directives implemented by DeJoy.
The Board of Governors has the authority to intervene in decisions made by the postmaster general. The group selected DeJoy for the position n May.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informed House members this past weekend that they should expect to return to Washington to vote on legislation by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., to prevent any changes made to the Postal Service until the coronavirus pandemic is over. That vote is expected to take place on a rare Saturday session this week.
Trump defended DeJoys actions last Saturday as a way to turn around the agency, denying the moves were meant to discourage mail-in voting.
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Trumps Changes To Obamacare Would Likely Be Quite Minor In A Second Term
To get an idea for what Trump might do next, its worth looking at how his administration has already changed the ACA since he took office.
In 2017, Trump and Republicans in Congress zeroed out the Obama-era mandate on coverage, allowing Americans to once again go insurance-free, without risking penalties. Many Democrats lamented the move, arguing it would make the health insurance marketplace more unstable, by taking more healthy people out of the system. But the truth is that ACA coverage was already unaffordable for many people making over $50,000 .
The ACA was more focused on sicker and lower income populations, and trying to really provide care for underserved populations, Fann said.
The Trump administration has also allowed more people to buy insurance that falls outside of the ACAs original rules. For instance, people are allowed to sign up for short-term health insurance plans, which dont have to cover people with pre-existing conditions. The plans have been derided by Democrats as junk insurance, but Trump officials say they give some level of coverage to people who cant afford ACA plans, who would otherwise be uninsured.
I would say the Republican plan is more of broader tax credits, trying to attract more people, Fann said.
Insurers are coming back to the market, premiums are declining, he said.
If we leave the ACA alone, its going to continue to get better, Fann said. Lets just leave this thing alone until we understand whats going on.
Return Of Skinny Insurance Plans
With the initial enactment of the ACA, health insurance policies had to have minimum levels of coverage. Pursuant to the ACA, short-term policies with less coverage could only be used to a consumer for three months.
The Trump Administration changed the availability of these skinny policies. A consumer can now have a skinny policy for 364 days. When that initial time period lapses, a consumer can renew a skinny policy for up to three more years.
The full repeal of the ACA proved impossible when Republicans controlled the White House and both Houses of Congress. When the GOP lost the House of Representatives in the 2018 election, no further meaningful discussion occurred on Capitol Hill regarding further changes to the ACA. Discussions and debate about further changes to ACA are not likely to occur until after the 2020 election. Moreover, the scope of such a post-2020 election will be governed significantly by which party controls the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.
Ranking the Best Healthcare Management Degree Programs
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Learn More About Medicare And Compare Medicare Supplement Plans
Are you concerned about how federal health care changes could affect your Medicare coverage?
Are you approaching Medicare eligibility at age 65 and curious about your plan options?
1 Pear, R., and Haberman, M. Trump Retreats on Health Care After McConnell Warns It Wont Happen. . New York Times. Retrieved from www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/us/politics/obamacare-donald-trump.html.
2 Congressional Budget Office. American Health Care Act of 2017. . Retrieved from https://www.cbo.gov/publication/52752.
Christian Worstell is a health care and policy writer for MedicareSupplement.com. He has written hundreds of articles helping people better understand their Medicare coverage options.
Trumpcare Was Intended To Replace Obamacare
The AHCA was intended to be the replacement part of President Trumps campaign pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act .
Some provisions of Trumpcare directly oppose those put in place by Obamacare.
- For example, the ACA protected people with pre-existing conditions from facing higher premiums for insurance plans. But Trumpcare would have potentially allowed companies to charge more on the basis of a pre-existing condition.
- Obamacare also requires all Americans under 65 to have health insurance or else face a tax penalty, but Trumpcare would have eliminated that “individual mandate.”
- The ACA also required companies to cover a list of essential health benefits. Under Trumpcare, states could potentially have received a waiver from covering these benefits if the state met certain criteria.
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If Your Time Is Short
- Trump is 74 years old and slightly obese. Both put him at greater risk of severe illness, with his age being the more important factor.
- Based on broad studies, 8% to 12% of people like him became severely ill with the disease.
President Donald Trumps announcement that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus added a powerful and unpredictable factor to the presidential election.
Trumps physician said that both are well at this time and plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters that Trump is experiencing mild symptoms.
The great majority of people who test positive for the coronavirus suffer no or minor effects. Based on what we know now, the odds for Trump weathering COVID-19 are in his favor.
But Trump has two risk factors his age and his weight.
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The Virus Age And Obesity
Dr. David Hamer, professor in infectious disease at Boston Universitys School of Public Health and School of Medicine, said that Trumps age presents the biggest risk factor for him.
Someone in his age group has an 8% to 12% chance of having severe illness, Hamer said.
Thats based on large studies out of Italy and China. In the China study, the risk of death for those 65 to 74 was half that of people 75 or older.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists a body mass index over 30 as increasing the risk of severe illness from COVID-19. But most of the studies behind that focused on people with a body mass index of 35 or above. Trump is barely in the obese range.
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An American-based study found an increased risk for people with a body mass index in the 30 to 34.9 range, but the magnitude of the increased risk varied greatly in the data, from nearly none at all to a very large impact. In other words, it is difficult to pin down.
In general, men are more at risk than women. Globally, more men than women have died from COVID-19, but researchers dont know exactly why.
This article was originally , which is owned by the Poynter Institute, and is republished here with permission. See the sources for these facts checks here and more of their fact-checks here.
The Future Of Medicare
Republicans vary in their opinions on what the future of Medicare should be.
Some Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, favor significant changes in Medicare, including converting Medicare into a voucher or premium-support system by which the government would pay a certain amount for retirees health insurance, which could be obtained through government or private insurance. If the cost of insurance exceeds the amount the government would pay , retirees would have to pay the difference. Ryan would also raise the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67.
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Obamacare Has Not Met Projections
Since the US healthcare system was already world class, it was impossible for Obamacare to improve upon it. For that reason, experts understand that the previous administrations real goal was funding, not the improvement of care. And to make matters worse, the Obamacare healthcare policy has not met projections. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated Obamacare was off by $311 billion for 2015 2024 projections.
Criticism Of The Affordable Care Act
Critics of the ACA have pointed out that it represented an unprecedented expansion of federal power within the healthcare industry because it required all individuals to purchase a service whether they wanted to or not.
This aspect of the law was a major focus of debate, and it was challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 by the National Federation of Independent Business. The court ruled in favor of the individual mandate as a constitutional exercise of the taxing authority of Congress, characterizing the penalties levied against the uninsured as a tax.
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The Costs Of Trumpcare 10
- According to the Congressional Budget Office, the CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the American Health Care Act would reduce federal deficits by $337 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 24 million in 2026 relative to current law.
- According to the Congressional Budget Office, the CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the American Health Care Act would reduce federal deficits by $119 billion over the coming decade and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 23 million in 2026 relative to current law.
- MOST RECENT: According to the Congressional Budget Office, the plan in its current form saves $321 billion over the decade. However, it did does by leaving 49 million without coverage by 2026 . The cost and uninsured rate are subject to change based on changes to the bill. See a breakdown of the costs here.
The CBO report done after the Amendment shows 1 million less uninsured and about $200 billion in less in savings. See the Key Facts From the May 2017 CBO Report on TrumpCare . UPDATE: We will do some key facts from the Senate bill soon.
TIP: That CBO scoring is subject to change, the plan has been revised since it was scored. The passed bill was not scored at the time of passing.
