Replies

Some plan.

1. Completely repeal Obamacare. Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate. No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to.

You lose some popular features of Obamacare such as coverage for existing conditions and the ability to carry adult children on your policy for longer periods. People won't like that.

2. Modify existing law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines. As long as the plan purchased complies with state requirements, any vendor ought to be able to offer insurance in any state. By allowing full competition in this market, insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up.

Right now if a policy complies with Missouri state requirements then any insurance company can sell insurance in my state. If they don't then they can't. I think what Trump means is if they comply with the requirements of one state then they can sell in any state. Even so, why would I buy a policy guaranteed to cost me more? And why would a company want my business when it's guaranteed to cost them more?

3. Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system.

I assume that the point behind this is to make healthcare insurance more affordable for lower income families. But Trump's tax plan already says that families earning less than $50,000 will not pay any taxes so what good would an additional deduction do them?

4. Allow individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

Already the law. Any person with a high deductible insurance policy can establish an HSA.

Require price transparency from all healthcare providers, especially doctors and healthcare organizations like clinics and hospitals. Individuals should be able to shop to find the best prices for procedures, exams or any other medical-related procedure.

Already available on line.

6. Block-grant Medicaid to the states. Nearly every state already offers benefits beyond what is required in the current Medicaid structure. The state governments know their people best and can manage the administration of Medicaid far better without federal overhead. States will have the incentives to seek out and eliminate fraud, waste and abuse to preserve our precious resources.

One of the features of Obamacare was expanding Medicare to increase coverage for low income individuals. About half of the states refused to do so. Why would they change under Trumpcare?

7. Remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug providers that offer safe, reliable and cheaper products.

Right now insurance companies lose their patents after a certain number of years and lower cost generics are available. But before then medications are a monopoly for the company which developed it and there is no way to remove that barrier except to remove the patent. Is that what Trump is proposing?