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Donald Trump Reveals Details of His Health Care Plan
NBC News ^
| 03/02/2016
| Ali Vitali
Posted on 03/02/2016 8:46:57 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Donald Trump released his health care plan Wednesday evening, finally detailing the way in which he would fulfill his campaign trail promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
In a seven-point plan posted to his website and publicized by a tweet, Trump says he will do away with the individual health insurance mandate, as well as allow competition over states lines for health care plans, and block grant Medicaid to the states, allowing them to follow through on his prescription to "eliminate fraud, waste and abuse to preserve our precious resources."
The decision to go against the idea of an individual mandate is new for Trump, who told CNN during a February town hall before the South Carolina primary that he "likes the mandate" and that makes him "a little bit different" than other conservatives.
But Wednesday's plan outlines as the first point on the list: "Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate. No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to."
He counters that, however, by saying individuals should be allowed to "fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns."
The third bullet point goes on to say that "we must make sure no one slips through the cracks simply because they cannot afford insurance" and that "we must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want healthcare coverage can have it."
Further, Trump ties illegal immigration to his healthcare plan, writing "providing healthcare to illegal immigrants costs us some $11 billion annually ... If we were to simply enforce the current immigration laws and restrict the unbridled granting of visas to this country,
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
TOPICS: Breaking News; Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: New York
KEYWORDS: 2016election; cruzlied; dyingonthestreets; election2016; elections; fraudwasteandabuse; healthcare; mumbojumbo; newyork; trump; trumpcare; trumpwasright; trumpyesterdaytoday
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To: Arthur Wildfire! March
I don’t care who is proud and who is offended. I’m not making this decision for you or Glen Beck, I’m making it for me. I’m tired of holding my nose and voting for the moderate flavor-of-the-month. I decided that if I can’t vote for a conservative then I won’t vote. I’m tired of compromising my principles.
To: Las Vegas Ron
Funny, as I look over the past year, it would have been way cheaper to just pay for the doctor visits.
Instead, due to a deductible plan, I got to pay for the visits and pay a monthly bill to the insurance company.
342
posted on
03/03/2016 7:53:58 AM PST
by
Jay Thomas
(If not for my faith in Christ, I would despair.)
To: grania
Past record and DEEDS ( not just words ) is a better predictor of a person’s future actions than just about anything else.
How do I explain his tag teaming with Rubio against Trump? Simple, it has nothing to do with ideology but tactics.
Trump is leading, they have to attack Trump on his record to take him down a notch. What do you expect in a campaign?
And note, most of Ted Cruz’s attack on Trump referenced what he SAID in the past.
Ted Cruz still plans to build a wall. That is the first point in his immigration plan.
See here:
https://www.tedcruz.org/cruz-immigration-plan-summary/
In fact, if you listened closely in the past debates .. he hinted very strongly that he’d appoint Trump to oversee and manage its building.
Suffice it to say that Ted Cruz is NOT a globalist as you want us to believe. Attacking Trump might not be to your liking, but hey, that’s politics. Trump does the same thing, and as a Cruz supporter, I simply shrug my shoulders.
But please, this thread is about Trump’s healthcare plan ( I started it). Let’s stick to it and not clutter it with globalism and trade. There are other threads for this.
To: Jim Robinson
Trump said on TV in an interview within the last few weeks that he supported the mandate. Hard to understand how he didn’t know that was the keystone part of Obamacare.
To: SeekAndFind
FWIW, I stated that you cannot trust what Cruz said about Obamacare in the past because he has demonstrated his flexibility on principles. It’s an unfortunate tactic if Cruz by his actions and words is saying Rubio is superior to Trump for the presidency. Those words and actions will mean that those who might’ve gone back to supporting Cruz now wonder who he is.
345
posted on
03/03/2016 8:00:49 AM PST
by
grania
To: Las Vegas Ron
No, you're right - HMO’s. I was thinking about PPI, or Pre Paid Insurance.
I recall it was sometime in the 1970’s though, because I gained such a policy through my employer. They paid the premiums at 100% as part of a benefit package. I was way too young to appreciate that way back then. LOL!
346
posted on
03/03/2016 8:05:16 AM PST
by
KittenClaws
( Normalcy Bias. Do you have it?)
To: Las Vegas Ron
I think you're correct. HMOs changed things from catastrophic care insurance unless a person opted for more coverage to a system where the insurer took total control, not just of medical care, but of health maintenance and well being. It's been downhill since then, with people jumping through all the hoops just to get "free" stuff because it's covered.
347
posted on
03/03/2016 8:07:47 AM PST
by
grania
To: KittenClaws
They paid the premiums at 100% as part of a benefit package. I was way too young to appreciate that way back then. LOL! Yeah, I remember those days.
Employers would offer good insurance packages as an incentive to attract good employees to join the company...now they're mandated to provide it.
Sooo "progressive" spit!
348
posted on
03/03/2016 8:11:11 AM PST
by
Las Vegas Ron
("Medicine is the keystone in the arch of Socialism" Vladimir Lenin)
To: Jay Thomas
Funny how that works.
Reagans said it best “government is the problem, not the solution”.
349
posted on
03/03/2016 8:14:21 AM PST
by
Las Vegas Ron
("Medicine is the keystone in the arch of Socialism" Vladimir Lenin)
To: stocksthatgoup
You’re sounding a bit like a liberal.
Conservatives have been bitching and moaning about how the commerce clause has been abused to justify Washington taking over all states rights and you want to pile on?
To: Arthur Wildfire! March
Thank You, My King!
May your name be blasphemed throughout the land in the Mead Halls of the unwashed Vulgarians.
(Damn, the curse is working!)
To: Paul R.
“When you get right down to it, ending employer provided insurance would perhaps be the best bet.”
And have only catastrophic health insurance, have HSA with high deductible plans and remove most if not all mandates.
To: Arthur Wildfire! March
Secondly ... you dont think AIDS doesnt jack up your cost?
________________________________
I've actually wondered about that myself. I've had health insurance since before the advent of AIDS and I have noticed a steady rate increase.
I looked it up and found that in 1980 health expenditures per capita were $1,100.00 share of GDP and by 2010 they were $8420.00 share of GDP.
Hope the link works:
http://slidegur.com/doc/218748/national-health-expenditures-per-capita--1960-2010
353
posted on
03/03/2016 8:32:39 AM PST
by
KittenClaws
( Normalcy Bias. Do you have it?)
To: SeaHawkFan
Are you always this obtuse?
354
posted on
03/03/2016 8:38:53 AM PST
by
Jim Robinson
(Resistance to tyrants is obedience to to God!)
To: Jim Robinson
Yes his is Jim, yes he is.
355
posted on
03/03/2016 8:40:13 AM PST
by
tatown
(Career politicians got us into this mess and they have no intention of getting us out of it.)
To: DrewsMum
356
posted on
03/03/2016 8:40:18 AM PST
by
Jim Robinson
(Resistance to tyrants is obedience to to God!)
To: Jim Robinson
Did you notice that Ted’s guy, John Roberts, just handed the Obama administrations EPA another big victory today?
...if we could only get a ‘real conservative’ in office to appoint judges then all will be well. /s
357
posted on
03/03/2016 8:43:02 AM PST
by
tatown
(Career politicians got us into this mess and they have no intention of getting us out of it.)
To: P-Marlowe
Trump is not a leftist. Read his books. Read his written proposals. Nothing at all like Soros, Gates, et al.
358
posted on
03/03/2016 8:44:32 AM PST
by
Jim Robinson
(Resistance to tyrants is obedience to to God!)
To: DoodleDawg
I can only address a couple of these (time!)
“1” Well, ObamaCare forced everyone to get insurance, and prices (especially in relation to benefits) skyrocketed. Maybe this isn’t working the way many theorize.
“5”. Where does the gov’t provide this, and what good does it do for the gov’t to post some list on a website no one knows about, when one’s provider looks at you in, say, a wellness checkup, and says, ok, we want to run x, y, and z tests, even though one is healthy & not feeling bad? The patient doesn’t know it is not part of the wellness check, because no one freaking explains what IS covered in a wellness check. Or, “you haven’t had a chest x-ray for a while, let’s run one before we schedule you for a colonoscopy.” I’m thinking, ok, either this is covered as a necessary part of the prelim for the colonoscopy, or, at worst, how much can a chest x-ray be? Turns out it’s over S500 (probably over $600 today), just for the x-ray, and it’s not covered. (No sane person considers “applies toward the deductible” as coverage.)
Now, I realize there are lots of complications (see post earlier from a doctor), but, good Lord, this is 2016. Plug the insurance card info. into a computer, plug in the test or procedure, and at least get a price range or order of magnitude that can be required of the provider to give to the patient up front.
One more. “4” Almost no one knows about the freaking HSA’s, either. Require providers to provide information on them (waiting for the Doc would be a great time to read up!), and promote them through PSA’s and online. (No, I know Trump’s plan does not detail this, but it should be added. At least he mentions HSA’s in a document many will read.
As I see it, there’s no way to back out of the Gov’t-in-health care debacle, 100%, in even 20 years. If we can go that direction and get 80% of the way out, in 10 years, I’d consider it a miracle.
359
posted on
03/03/2016 9:05:00 AM PST
by
Paul R.
To: SeekAndFind
Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system. Businesses are allowed to take these deductions so why wouldnt Congress allow individuals the same exemptions? As we allow the free market to provide insurance coverage opportunities to companies and individuals, we must also make sure that no one slips through the cracks simply because they cannot afford insurance. We must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want healthcare coverage can have it. If you have health insurance through your employer under a qualified Section 125 plan (as most employer sponsored plans are) then your payroll deductions for your share of the premiums are deducted on a pre-tax basis and so are already excluded from your taxable income, i.e. they are already tax free and additionally you are not currently taxed for your employers share of the premiums. So I very much doubt that under Trumps plan you would be allowed to double dip and deduct those premiums again. Unless he plans to eliminate the pre-tax deductions which would be IMO, a very bad idea.
For people who are self-employed and pay for a private insurance plan, those insurance premiums are in most cases already tax deductible and have been for many years and actually under ACA (Obamacare) the deduction was made it easier and FWIW was increased to 100% in 2003.
Self-employed health insurance deduction 2015
Deduction for self employed isnt new
If you buy your own health insurance, you should definitely know about the long-standing health insurance premium deduction for the self-employed.
Congress implemented a 25 percent deduction on self-employed health insurance premiums in 1987 and made it permanent in 1994. The self-employed received even better news in 2003 when premiums became 100 percent deductible.
The deduction which youll find on Form 1040, Line 29 allows self-employed people to reduce their adjusted gross income by the amount they pay in health insurance premiums during a given year. Youll find the deduction on your personal income tax form, and you can file for it if you were self-employed and showed a profit for the year.
Are Health Insurance Premiums Tax Deductible?
As to the tax deductibility of all insurance premiums and the great expansion of Medicaid:
Trumps proposal to exclude all health insurance purchases from taxation is a terrible idea. The principal reason why health care is so expensive in America is that we heavily subsidize its consumption through the tax code and through entitlement spending, to the tune of $1.8 trillion a year. Trumps proposal would make health care even less affordable than it already is, and has the potential to significantly increase the deficit. Spending on Medicare would increase by at least $800 billion over the next decade. The tax changes could increase the deficit by another trillion or so.
The end result of Trumps proposed changes would be far fewer people with health insurance, and far costlier health care: precisely the opposite of Trumps goal of covering everybody and reducing costs. Notably, theres absolutely nothing in the plan about covering people with pre-existing conditions, something that Trump has claimed as one of his highest priorities.
The Most Important Thing About Donald Trump's Health Reform Plan Is That Trump Didn't Write It
And wasnt Medicaid expansion heralded to be one of the best things about ACA (Obamacare) and hasnt it been proven to be an expensive disaster for the 30 states that entered into it?
Medicaid Expansion Is Proving to Be a Bad Bargain for States
Again, just like the section on HSAs, I dont see anything here to jump up and down over. I would think allowing individuals who do not have or qualify for employer provided Section 125 health plans (pre-tax payroll deductions) or who are not self-employed to be able to deduct their health insurance premiums and or lowering the threshold for deducting out of pocket medical expenses which currently has to exceed 10% of AGI, may not be a bad idea but then again it might not be a good idea either. The increased cost in the form of lower tax revenues would have to be offset by either increased revenue or spending cuts elsewhere. Free or tax free is never either in reality.
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