Much of President Donald Trump’s Tuesday State of the Union address centered on immigration and tariffs. However, he also addressed several healthcare issues, including a renewed criticism of the Affordable Care Act and a promotion of his administration’s prescription drug policies.
Several healthcare experts are in favor of his comments regarding bringing down prescription drug costs, while others condemned his comments about health coverage.
Specifically, Trump referred to the Affordable Care Act as the “Unaffordable Care Act,” stating that it allowed big insurance companies to become rich. He noted that’s why he introduced the Great Healthcare Plan, which seeks to increase price transparency and give money directly to people to buy their own healthcare.
He also touted his Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing policy — which aims to bring drug prices in line with other comparable nations — and called on Congress to codify the program. In addition, he touched on TrumpRx, a website that allows consumers to access discounted prices for certain brand-name prescriptions.
One employer advocate was glad that Trump addressed prescription drug prices during his speech.
“We welcome any effort that advances transparency, competition, and higher‑value care and were pleased to see last night’s remarks include the importance of tackling prescription drug affordability and increasing transparency. It’s essential that we address rising costs, and the continued attention on issues such as drug pricing policies, launch of tools designed to help consumers compare medication costs, and broader proposals aimed at increasing market transparency underscores how essential these changes are for employers and families,” said Shawn Gremminger, president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.
Another healthcare leader agreed with Trump’s comments about taking on big insurance and expanding price transparency.
“Employers and their members deserve lower costs and better access to care, and providers deserve to be paid quickly for the services they deliver through a system that works in real time,” said Ethan Jorgensen-Earp, Nomi Health vice president of federal government affairs. “That’s why we support congressional and administrative action that gives employers full ownership of their claims data.”
A patient advocacy organization, meanwhile, condemned Trump’s speech, stating that it’s important to look at what the president has actually done, not what he said.
“His plan on health care and costs isn’t the few sentences in a speech, but the massive Medicaid cuts he signed into the law, and Congress’ deliberate decision to double premiums for those who buy coverage as individuals, costing consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars. The President and Congress allowed enhanced premium tax credits to expire, made historic cuts to Medicaid, and otherwise are pushing and pricing millions of Americans off of coverage,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, in a statement.
Another healthcare executive argued that Trump’s idea of sending money directly to consumers so they can buy their own coverage is “interesting,” but doesn’t address the underlying issues.
“We’re shifting dollars without changing the model,” said Seth Cohen, president at Cedar. “When the enhanced ACA subsidies expired at the end of last year, the extra money helping patients offset premiums disappeared — but the underlying costs didn’t. It’s the same pattern we’ve seen before: temporary financial relief without real reform.”
Photo: Philip Rozenski, Getty Images
