Trump administration announces health plan concept

The White House has outlined a new health care plan, just as many across the country are facing steep increases in Affordable Care Act premiums.

What the administration is calling the "Great Healthcare Plan" proposes, among other things, to replace insurance company subsidies with direct payments to consumers, presumably through Health Savings Accounts. However, the plan is dependent on legislative action.

Yvette Fontenot, CEO of Impact Health Policy Partners, said Congress is currently focused on other things.

"The House has just passed a three-year clean extension of the enhanced premium tax credits. That has been sent over to the Senate," Fontenot pointed out. "So, that's what Congress is focused on getting done. Some of these other pieces, while they may be considered by Congress, it is not the health care emergency that Congress is currently trying to deal with."

She noted the plan does not address the immediate problem for millions of people who are facing a doubling of their health insurance premiums on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The administration claims its plan would save taxpayers more than $36 billion and reduce Affordable Care Act policy premiums by more than 10%.

The proposal would require plain-language insurance information, public disclosure of insurer and provider pricing and calls for ending kickbacks from pharmacy benefit managers to brokerage middlemen. The plan also calls for lowering drug costs by benchmarking prices in other countries and making more prescription drugs available over the counter. Fontenot argued there is a better way to lower drug prices.

"I think the best way to deliver price reductions on drugs is what Democrats passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is allowing Medicare to use its overwhelming purchasing ability to negotiate prices with drug companies," Fontenot contended. "Those are the lower prices that are being delivered as of January 1."

She added it is hard to say if the administration’s proposal would lower prices without seeing specifics.