Democrat’s have been swearing up and down the campaign trail that Republicans are destroying Health Care. But, like most of the words that pass between the lips of those crowding the political left, it just ain’t so. Under President Trump and the Republican Congress more American’s have health coverage and health care options.
The total number of Americans with health insurance rose from 292.3 million in 2016 to 294.6 million in 2017, the Census Bureau reports. Some of the following new reforms have helped 2.3 million more Americans enjoy medical coverage and alternatives under Republican leadership rather than Democrat mismanagement.
Deroy Murdock, writing at National Review lists improvements that benefit ordinary Americans like repealing the individual mandate, disbanding IPAB the care rationing board set up under ObamaCare, and passing Right to Try legislation.
- As promised, Trump signed the Right to Try Act on May 30. Terminally ill Americans who have exhausted other options now are free to use drugs that have passed the FDA’s Phase 1 safety trials but not yet passed effectiveness tests. The FDA’s “compassionate use” program only helped some 1,200 patients annually, the White House estimates. It added: “‘Right to Try’ gives the over 1 million Americans who die from a terminal illness every year a new tool to fight and make potentially lifesaving decisions about their treatment.”
Murdock reports that every Republican present in the House at the time voted for Right to Try while 169 Democrats voted no.
Murdock’s list of Health Care victories for regular Americans continues.
- The Trump administration in June authorized “association health plans.” Entrepreneurs, small employers, and civic organizations (e.g., the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Association of Michigan) now may join hands and insure their employees and members, including across state lines.
- Last summer, the administration extended the duration of short-term, limited health plans from three months to one year, with renewals permitted up to three years. In essence, Team Trump increased twelve-fold the allowable length of short-term policies. “For example, according to E-Health, the average lowest premium for an Obamacare plan for a 40-year-old woman is about $4,200 per year,” Trump noted. “By contrast, the average lowest premium for short-term coverage for this individual is about $1,300 a year — a savings of $3,000,” or 69 percent off.
Short-term health plans were a great option for a wide range of folks looking for simple, low cost, coverage until Democrats killed them. “Such plans were offered for terms of up to 12 months for decades until, in an effort to push Americans into Obamacare, the previous administration restricted the plans to 90 days and prohibited insurers from renewing them beyond that time period.”
To force American’s into Obamacare.
And there are transparency changes that not only keep consumers informed but help them save money.
- The administration in August required hospitals to post the prices of their procedures online and update them annually. Patients will be able to shop around when deciding where to get treated. Such competition should slow or even counteract medical-cost inflation.
- The president this month signed two bills that increase drug-price transparency. “Our great citizens deserve to know the lowest price available at our pharmacies,” he said. “They’ll be able to see pricing. … And as they start leaving certain pharmacies, those pharmacies will be dropping their prices.”
- The administration opposes “gag clauses” in Medicare Part D plans. Pharmacists now are free to tell patients about money-saving prescription-drug options.
- President Trump has turned the FDA’s red lights green. “We’ve massively sped up the FDA approval process,” he said October 10. “Last year, the FDA approved more than 1,000 low-cost generics — the most in its history … saving America almost $9 billion in the first year of my administration.”
- “We have approved seven state waivers that provide federal assistance to help states pay for the sickest patients and allow insurers to keep premiums lower, all without increasing taxpayer burden,” Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), wrote last week. “These waivers appear to be working. For example, Wisconsinites will see their individual market premiums decrease by an average of 11 percent, due to the waiver.”
- In an op-ed in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Health Secretary Alex Azar unveiled another option for patients. Employers will be liberated to offer workers tax-free Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangements. Employees could use HRA funds to cover qualified medical expenses. Employers who provide group coverage will be allowed to deposit up to $1,800 in each employee’s HRA annually.
Allowing employers to reimburse employees who buy coverage on the open market undoes an Obama prohibition on the practice. Another move by Democrats that was meant to force them onto ObamaCare.
And thanks to these Republican reforms, and Mr. Trump keeping his promises, for the first time in its short and unpleasant history, Murdock reports that premiums for ObamaCare plans on Healthcare.gov are starting to go down.
He calls it Making Health Care Great Again.
I agree. Republicans should read his article and carry the words with them from door to door to event or speaking engagement over the remaining days before the Election.
Yes, Republicans are destroying Democrat Big Government’s stranglehold on Health Insurance and Health Care. A move that shows their trust in everyday citizens to know what they want and need and the ability to make arrangements that work best for themselves and their families.
