This story has been updated to clarify the impact of Trump’s plan on people with preexisting conditions.
(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump is rolling out a health care plan aimed at making medication and insurance more affordable, but not everyone is included.
The proposal comes as millions of Americans face higher premiums this year, with open enrollment for most Affordable Care Act plans ending.
Trump’s “Great Healthcare Plan” is a broad outline with four main objectives:
- Lowering drug prices.
- Lowering insurance premiums, which includes sending subsidy money directly to Americans’ health savings accounts so they can choose their own health insurance.
- Holding insurance companies accountable.
- Maximizing price transparency.
The White House says the plan is a framework for Congress to create legislation.
There was no timeline given for when the plan would be implemented, but the Trump administration believes it will get bipartisan congressional support and is urging Congress to pass it now.
Critics of Trump’s proposal say the framework is incomplete and could make coverage more expensive for people with preexisting conditions.
“If, as expected, healthier people choose medically underwritten plans, those left in the Marketplaces would be sicker,” writes Cynthia Cox, vice president of KFF, a health care information organization. “That would likely lead to a ‘death spiral’ in the ACA markets in states that took up that waiver, potentially leaving many people with pre-existing conditions without any option for health coverage.”
But press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that people with preexisting conditions are part of their thinking.
“The president’s plan that he outlined today will have no impact on individuals in this country with preexisting conditions. Obviously, that’s a continued conversation that the White House will have with Congress, but that’s not the president’s intention with the ‘Great Healthcare Plan,'” Leavitt told reporters.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers have continued to debate over health care and have failed to agree on Affordable Care Act subsidies. Trump’s new plan does not call for a subsidy extension.
The president has partnered with several drug companies to provide discounted prescription costs through his administration’s direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx, which will be up and running this month, according to its website.