Trump shares health care plan as Congress debates ACA subsidies

President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled the White House’s outline of a healthcare plan that he claims will lower drug prices and insurance premiums.

The announcement comes as Congressional efforts to expand Affordable Care Act tax credits face backlash from Senate Republicans and millions of people risk seeing their health insurance premiums rise.

The Trump administration called the initiative the “Great Health Plan.” he said in a video I will announce the policy on Thursday morning.

“I call on Congress to enact this framework without delay,” Trump said. “I have to do this right now.”

The plan would codify deals Trump recently struck with major drugmakers to lower the costs of some U.S. prescription drugs by pegging prices at lower prices abroad, as part of his “most favored nation” policy.

More than a dozen drug companies have agreed to lower prices on certain products for Medicaid patients in exchange for three-year tariff waivers.

As part of those deals, the companies also agreed to sell some drugs at a discount on Trump’s direct-to-consumer platform, Trump Rx.

These lower drug prices will be effective on the platform when it launches this month, Trump said in his video announcement. He claimed that these prices would fall by up to 500%, even though that meant prices would fall well below $0.

The healthcare framework will “deliver more validated safe pharmaceutical medicines that can be purchased without a prescription,” according to a report White House fact sheet.

The fact sheet also claims that instead of giving “billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded extra subsidy payments to major insurance companies,” money would be sent “directly to the American people” for health insurance coverage. Trump has made similar suggestions many times in his recent statements.

The plan would also “fund a cost-sharing reduction program,” which the administration says will “reduce the most common Obamacare plan premiums by more than 10%.”

Other components of the policy include requiring health insurers to prominently post coverage comparisons in “plain English” on their websites, along with other information about overhead costs and claim denial rates.

Additionally, providers who accept Medicare or Medicaid will be required to “publicly and prominently post their prices and fees to avoid surprise medical bills.”

The White House’s new offer comes as senators are at odds over a deal to extend now-expired ACA or Obamacare subsidies. A bipartisan group of senators has been working on a path forward for weeks but recently hit a roadblock over language related to the Hyde Amendment, a law that bans the use of federal funds for abortion services.

The White House plan specifically excludes an extension of ACA subsidies, which Democrats have demanded be extended as part of any health care deal. The White House had not made a public proposal until Thursday, but Trump has repeatedly said he wants the funds to go directly to patients rather than insurance companies.

Some negotiators wondered whether the White House plan would hinder negotiations.

“We all knew we had to get support from the White House to move anything forward,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, one of the negotiators, told reporters Thursday. “If he signals that he doesn’t support the extension, will he take those jobs back? [the subsidies]? I mean, that’s the basis of our plan here.”

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is leading the negotiations on the Democratic side, said Thursday that she had not yet seen Trump’s plan but signaled optimism about the discussions.

“There is agreement in many areas, so what we need to do is put together the text of the bill and then get the final signature so we can talk to our colleagues about what we are proposing,” Shaheen told reporters.

A White House official said Thursday that the plan does not close the door on extending subsidies but does reveal the president’s preferences.

“This does not specifically address ongoing bipartisan congressional negotiations,” the White House official said. “It says we’d rather the money go to people, not insurance companies.”