Trump’s Heath Plan

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has released his version of a health care plan that would, if he were elected, replace Obamacare. Made up of seven points, his first steps would be to completely repeal the Affordable Care Act. He also plans to eliminate the individual mandate for health insurance coverage despite previous comments that seemed to suggest its support. In addition, his points include:

• Making it easier to obtain coverage across state lines and encouraging competition in the health insurance sector.
• Making health insurance fully tax-deducible similar to the way businesses handle their deductions for employer paid premiums.
• Encouraging participation in tax-free Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for use in paying medical expenses.
• Requiring transparency in health care provider pricing.
• Enabling states to establish state Medicaid plans, through the use of block-grants so states can manage its administration.
• Encouraging more competition and lower drug prices, by removing barriers to the introduction of new drugs by pharmaceutical companies.

Although supporters say his plan is sound, critics have voiced concerns that there is no real strategy behind its implementation. At a debate last month, Trump said he would guarantee that people with preexisting health conditions would be covered, but he did not provide an outline as to how that would happen. He has also not addressed a fix for the more than 27 million people currently uninsured despite the current mandate and penalties associated with non-compliance.

Today, the uninsured cite high premiums as the main reason they remain uninsured. Younger people still make up the majority of the uninsured.