DONALD TRUMP'S VISION

To view Mr. Trump's position, visit https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform

ACTION

  • Repeal and replace Obamacare with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
  • Work with Congress to create a patient-centered health care system that promotes choice, quality, and affordability.
  • Work with states to establish high-risk pools to ensure access to coverage for individuals who have not maintained continuous coverage. 
  • Allow people to purchase insurance across state lines, in all 50 states, creating a dynamic market.
  • Maximize flexibility for states via block grants so that local leaders can design innovative Medicaid programs that will better serve their low-income citizens.

KEY ISSUES

  • President Obama said his health plan would cut the cost of family premiums by up to $2,500 a year. Instead, premiums have gone up by almost $5,000 since Obamacare passed. [Kaiser Family Foundation]
  • Nearly two-thirds of Obamacare Exchange plans lost over $2.2 billion just in 2014. [Mercatus Center, April 22, 2016]
  • Health insurance companies are fleeing the Obamacare Exchanges. Five states, one-third of all counties, and 19% of Americans eligible for Obamacare will have only one Exchange insurer this year. [New York Times, Aug. 19, 2016], [Kaiser Family Foundation, Aug. 28, 2016], [McKinsey on Healthcare, Aug. 18, 2016]
  • Premiums have skyrocketed across the nation, with a national average of almost 25%, with some states experiencing rate increases up to 70%. In Iowa, one plan got a 43% increase approved. In Florida, the individual market will see an average rate increase of 19%. In Pennsylvania, at least three plans requested rate increases over 40%. And the average rate requested in Minnesota is 54%. [ACA Signups], [Health Insurance], [Miami Herald], [Health Insurance]
  • More than half the Exchange plans have deductibles of $3,000 or more. [The New York Times, Nov. 14, 2015] 
  • Deductibles are going up in 2017, some as high as $7,000 per person on the “cheapest” Obamacare plans. [Investors Business Daily, May 13, 2016]
  • People are going without needed medical care because they can’t afford these amounts. [The Boston Globe, Nov. 16, 2015] 
  • Most of the people getting covered under Obamacare are getting it through the government run Medicaid program. [Heritage Foundation]
  • Almost 12 million more Americans were enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan since October 2013. [Obamacarefacts.com]
  • By 2026 one-fourth of our population will be on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. [Congressional Budget Office, March 2016]
  • Medicaid beneficiaries have worse health compared to everyone else. Add to that higher death rates, misuse of the emergency room and higher overall costs. [“How to Fix Medicaid,” National Affairs, 2014]
  • Obamacare has reduced pay for workers in small businesses and reduced employment by more than 350,000 jobs nationwide. [American Action Forum, Sept. 9, 2016]
  • The employer mandate raised the minimum cost of hiring a full-time worker to $10.30/hour for larger employers, without increasing take-home pay for workers. [Heritage Foundation]
  • State and local officials have conceded that Obamacare forced municipal governments to cut hours of part-time employees. [The New York Times, Feb. 20, 2014]
  • University of Wisconsin cut back student workers' hours as a result of Obamacare. [Madison, Sept. 27, 2016]

CONTRAST WITH HILLARY CLINTON

  • Hillary Clinton will protect and expand disastrous Obamacare. She called Obamacare "one of the great accomplishments not only of this president, but of the Democratic Party going back to Harry Truman." [CNN Money, Aug. 19, 2016]
  • Hillary Clinton will offer a public option on the Exchanges, driving out private health plans and leaving Americans with fewer options and eventually no choices but a government run plan.