1. So he completely eliminates Obamacare. Good start. But also I see that coverage for pre-existing conditions as well as coverage for adult children are not in his plan. These were two parts of Obamacare that were very popular and that's not going to make people happy. Also having a plan without a requirement to have healthcare insurance will tend to drive up prices. So it won't make it easier for people to afford.
2. Will this create competition and drive prices down. If an insurance company does not do business in my state then it has no established network and would pay a much higher price for medical services they bill for. If they have no network in my state then I would pay a higher deductible, a higher copay and have to pay a higher percentage of the bill. So with higher costs for me and the insurance company then where is the benefit to me in buy their policy and where is the benefit to them in selling to me?
Sections 3 and 6 are contradictory. In three Trump want to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income people, something Obamacare tried and which about half the states refused to participate in. How would Trump change that. In six Trump wants to block-grant Medicaid money so that states could, theoretically, reduce coverage and use the funds elsewhere if they want to. I don't see where this helps with coverage.
Section 4 is puzzling. Health Savings Accounts already exist, they are tax deductible, and they can be set up either through an employer or by individuals. People need the money to contribute but the plan is already in place.
Section 5 is also available. The government publishes prices that are charged by hospitals for dozens of procedures so people could price-shop if they wanted. But healthcare isn't buying a new car. People go to the nearest hospital in the event of an emergency or they go to the one their doctor practices at. And the prices published are not the same that their insurance company pays, so people can comparison shop and still not know where their medical care will be the most expensive.
Section 7 doesn't make much sense either. If a company has a patent on a drug then they are the sole source for that drug and there is no room for negotiation. Then price is the price. If the patent has expired then the drug prices are already priced competitively and there may be little to be gained through competition.
All in all I don't see where it will reduce healthcare costs for all Americans. It's an example that there really isn't much the government can do to provide healthcare for all so they should do nothing. It only makes it worse and more costly, especially for the government.
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.