Several Trump health care reforms could find themselves in the crosshairs if the Biden administration puts focus on government-directed expansion of coverage rather than providing choice to patients. Some key Trump policies and systems that could face rollbacks are the following:
- Access to virtual medicine, including doctor consultations by phone, Zoom, and Skype
- Employer-funded accounts to pay for round-the-clock primary care
- Health Savings Accounts for chronically ill patients to help them manage their own care
- Expanded opportunities for Medicare plans to specialize and become centers of excellence in treating chronic diseases
- Insurance tailored to individuals and families through the “short-term” insurance markets
- Mandated posted prices so that patients can know what they will be charged in advance of treatment
- Waivers so states can take care of high-cost patients while lowering premiums for everyone
- Employer-provided personal and portable health insurance that travels with an employee from job to job
- Giving patients more control over electronic health data
- Reducing paperwork for Medicare providers
- Approving more generic drugs
- Allowing importation of prescription drugs from Canada
- Indexing Medicare drugs to the same prices foreign countries pay
- Repealing the tax on medical devices and health plans
- Paying physicians equally for Medicare services
- Expanding Medicare Advantage plan options
- Giving the terminally ill the right to certain treatments
- Repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate
Bonner R. Cohen, Ph.D., (bcohen@nationalcenter.org) is a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research.
