Navigating the Challenges of Obamacare

Despite the negative sentiment around the topic of healthcare during the Trump administration, powerful and positive changes were implemented. Trump’s first point of duty was repealing the individual mandate that was statutory under the Obamacare scheme. The individual mandate affected the majority of American households, resulting in higher Insurance costs.

On October 12th, 2017, President Trump issued Executive Order 13813, Promoting Healthcare Choice across the United States of America. The order enabled great expansion of coverage options, with 2,100 Medicare Advantage plan options becoming available to the public.

“Premiums were too high. Deductibles were a disaster. Patients had no choice. You couldn’t keep your doctor. But, by far, the worst part of Obamacare was this thing called the individual mandate.” President Donald J. Trump September 24th, 2020.

Challenging Big Pharma: The Impact of the Favourite Nations Drug Clause

Trump boldly went against the directive of big pharma with the implementation of the Favourite Nations Drug Clause on September 13th, 2020, via Executive Order 13948. The implementation of the Favourite Nation Drug Clause enabled America to receive the lowest price for pharmaceutical drugs.

This not only levelled the playing field with other developed nations but also led to life-saving drugs like insulin and injectable epinephrine having a $35 price cap. Under the Trump administration, drug prices were lowered, marking a first in 51 years.

On May 30, 2018, President Trump gladly signed the Right to Try Act. Right to try enabled 100s of thousands of Americans to seek experimental drug treatments due to health issues, and people involved in palliative care.

Transforming Healthcare: Cutting Waste and Boosting Reinvestment

During the Trump administration, Medicare was overhauled, allowing the system to operate more efficiently by restricting unnecessary and fraudulent payments in the order of 15 billion dollars. With an efficient and smooth operating Medicare system, a wave of new grants and Research and development initiatives was embarked upon.

Pediatric cancer research was allocated 500 million dollars, along with 1 billion dollars of increased funding for Alzheimer’s research.

The addition of online tools during the overhaul was well received, with the introduction of e-Medicare along with Blue Button 2.0 improving the beneficiaries' claims service. The launch of Care Compare was also launched to assist seniors in choosing appropriate plans for their needs.