Trump healthcare plan threatens ACA with high-deductible insurance

We all know the saying: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” This is how I might describe President Donald Trump’s latest health care idea: “Sending money directly to people so they can buy their own health care is much better.”

What Republicans are proposing is a bad deal for hard-working Americans and a good deal for the rich. Instead of the government continuing to subsidize Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance premiums, this new proposal could push millions to buy high-cost plans that will leave you paying thousands of dollars before they start paying for your care. Health care costs could skyrocket and undermine the entire Obamacare system; This could put the care of millions of Americans at risk. This doesn’t seem like a good deal to me.

First things first. People already get paid to buy their health insurance, but it’s in the form of a discount code, just like you use when you buy something online. It’s a little different, but it works something like this: The government gives ACA health plans a discount code to anyone who purchases ACA coverage.

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This discount code is then applied to people’s health insurance premiums in advance, reducing their premiums and making it easier for people to shop and purchase the health insurance that best suits their budget and healthcare needs. Just like when shopping online. You shop for what you want, you buy it, and you know how much you’ll pay before you buy it. Who doesn’t like that?

But as usual, Republicans are cooking up an idea that would make health insurance more expensive for hard-working Americans while helping the rich get a sweet tax deal. Here’s how their idea works: Instead of giving discount codes to health plans, Republicans want to give people money to put into a health savings account. This seems like a good deal, but it isn’t, and here’s why: these savings accounts are only available with what we call “high-deductible health plans”; these plans don’t pay for your doctor visits or other health care until you “meet” your deductible, which can be very expensive. The average deductible for a family enrolled in such plans in 2025 was about $7,000.

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For most of us living on a tight budget, these plans look good on paper. This is because they usually have a lower monthly premium. But the problem is that you won’t know how much going to the doctor will cost you.

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Yes, you can use your health savings account to pay for your health care expenses, but what happens when your savings run out and you don’t get your expensive deductible? Either you don’t go to the doctor because you can’t afford it and you get sick, or you use your grocery money to visit the doctor. How can a family live within its budget in this situation? This is impossible!

The only option for families is to go into debt, which is already a burden on millions of families. This is not a valid solution to the crisis, it just makes the problem worse.

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And if that wasn’t bad enough, you still have to pay monthly premiums for coverage you can’t afford to use.

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Here’s more salt in the wound: This Republican idea will help the rich get richer. This is because this money from health savings is not taxed. Thus, the rich get greater benefits. Consider a married couple earning $800,000, they will save 37 cents for every dollar deposited into their health savings account, but a married couple earning $30,000 will save only 12 cents; That’s a third of what the rich couple made!

The Affordable Care Act is by no means perfect, but the current system is better than what Republicans are proposing. We need to do more to lower health care costs, but the Republicans’ plan won’t do it.