President Trump should tout his significant achievements on health care in tonight’s debate, two key policymakers argue in an op-ed today in The Hill. “President Trump has a final opportunity to defend this record and explain his actions to fix problems with ObamaCare and improve the broader health system,” write former Sen. Rick Santorum and former special assistant to the president at the National Economic Council Brian Blase.
The president should begin by citing “the administration’s widespread health care accomplishments:”
- After taking the lead in eliminating the despised individual mandate penalty, President Trump “took decisive action to help the tens of millions of Americans harmed by ObamaCare. His administration stabilized the individual market and expanded affordable options outside of that market,” they write.
- The administration also produced “a roadmap for broader health system reforms to expand health care choice and competition,” implementing several of the more than 50 recommendations. Millions of people have more coverage options as a result of the president’s actions, including new defined contribution options for businesses and employees that will mean four times more new enrollees in individual market coverage “than ObamaCare with no new federal spending.”
- And there are dozens of other accomplishments, from helping patients with kidney disease, eliminating many of Obamacare’s taxes that drove up premiums, and ensuring Americans will finally have information about the price of medical services before they receive care.
They endorse the Health Care Choices 2020 proposal, released this week by the Health Policy Consensus Group. “This plan codifies the Trump administration’s action to increase health care choices and transparency…and requires coverage for people with pre-existing conditions [by allocating] resources to ensure they receive high-quality care.”