Today, October 3, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation’s Seniors. Keeping his pledge to defend Medicare for the nation’s seniors, President Trump’s Executive Order protects and improves Medicare by providing Medicare Advantage with new tools and options for seniors, reducing unnecessary and burdensome regulations, and targeting fraud and abuse in the Medicare system. “Our vision for the future of health in America has four crucial parts: we will protect vulnerable patients; we will deliver the affordability you need; we will give you the options and control you want, and we will provide the quality you deserve,” President Trump stated during the Executive Order signing at The Villages in Florida. You can find a full video of President Trump’s remarks here (President Trump Delivers Remarks and Signs Executive Order). Below, please find a helpful Fact Sheet.
Sincerely,
The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
William F. Crozer
Special Assistant to the President/Deputy Director
White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
O: 202-456-8491 | C: 202-881-8545 | E: William.F.Crozer@who.eop.gov
President Donald J. Trump’s Healthcare Agenda Puts Seniors and American Patients First
October 3, 2019
“We will not rest until Americans have the healthcare system they need and deserve, a system that finally puts American patients first.” – President Donald J. Trump
PUTTING AMERICAN PATIENTS FIRST: Since the beginning of his Administration, President Trump has put patients first so every American has the highest quality of healthcare in the world.
- Making healthcare more affordable by lowering out of control prescription drug prices and making new affordable healthcare options available.
- Putting patients in control of their healthcare by finally providing transparency and choice so every American can choose the care that fits their needs.
- Unleashing American innovation to provide new treatment options for patients living with disease.
PUTTING AMERICAN SENIORS FIRST: President Trump is taking action to protect and improve the Medicare system for America’s seniors.
- President Trump is signing a new Executive Order to improve seniors’ healthcare and improve the fiscal sustainability of Medicare. The order will advance policies that:
o Empower patients by giving them more plan choices, more access to telehealth and new therapies, and more time with providers.
o Streamline the approval of therapies, while reducing obstacles to improved patient care.
o Improve quality by implementing reforms that better link payments to value.
o Protect beneficiaries by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
o Maximize freedom for Medicare patients and providers by reducing regulatory burdens and eliminating unnecessary barriers.
- President Trump is putting seniors first by strengthening the Medicare system and helping ensure the program’s availability for years to come.
o Medicare-for-All bills proposed by Democrats in Congress threaten to end the Medicare program as we know it and eliminate choice for America’s seniors.
o Seniors are overwhelmingly satisfied with their Medicare coverage and President Trump will stand up to protect it.
- This order will improve the ability of seniors to make choices about their insurance, helping them access the best healthcare providers and the latest innovative therapies.
PROTECTING VULNERABLE AMERICANS: President Trump is committed to protecting vulnerable American patients and families.
- The President has reaffirmed that protecting Americans with preexisting conditions is fundamental to his healthcare agenda.
- President Trump is committed to ending surprise billing so no American is ever blindsided by medical bills for services they never agreed to.
o The President has put forward principles on surprise billing to ensure patients are not taken advantage of and have the information they need to make informed decisions.
o More than two-thirds of Americans worry about unexpected medical bills, according to a 2018 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
PROVIDING AFFORDABLE OPTIONS: By lowering costs, President Trump is making sure every American can afford high quality healthcare.
- Last year, President Trump released a historic blueprint to drive down drug prices.
- Medicare Advantage premiums will drop next year to their lowest level since 2007, a 28 percent decrease since 2017.
- Medicare Part D premiums next year will be their lowest in the last 7 years.
- Prescription drug prices fell in 2018 for the first year in nearly five decades.
- The Food and Drug Administration approved a record number of generic drugs in 2017 and 2018 that will improve competition and drive down prices.
o New generic drug approvals saved consumers $26 billion through the first year and a half of President Trump’s Administration.
- The Trump Administration laid the foundation to start importing certain prescription drugs that are cheaper in other countries.
PUTTING PATIENTS IN CONTROL: President Trump is making sure patients control their own healthcare by empowering them to make informed decisions and giving them more choices.
- The number of Medicare Advantage plans available to our seniors has increased by nearly 1,200 over the last two years.
- President Trump is working to expand Association Health Plans, which make it easier for employers to join together and offer more affordable health coverage to their employees.
- Through Health Reimbursement Arrangements, employers will be able to help their employees pay for the cost of insurance that they select in the individual market.
- The Administration expanded the availability of short-term, limited duration plans, which offer flexible coverage options and can be up to 60 percent cheaper than Obamacare plans.
- President Trump is working to ensure hospitals cannot hide prices for their services, requiring them to publicize more data and put quality and price information into patients’ hands.
- The President signed legislation ending “gag” clauses that prevented pharmacists from providing patients with information about lower cost options.
- President Trump signed legislation ending Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty, which forced many Americans to buy health plans they did not want.
- The Trump Administration is working to provide electronic health records to patients by requiring providers to give patients their data.
ENSURING HIGH QUALITY CARE: President Trump is working to promote innovative solutions and expand treatment options for Americans living with disease.
- President Trump launched an effort to improve kidney health and treatment in America, giving hope to the over 30 million Americans afflicted with kidney disease.
- The Administration has significantly increased funding for opioid and pain research and is supporting research for a vaccine to prevent opioid addiction.
o Drug overdose deaths declined nationally last year for the first time in decades.
- President Trump signed into law $1 billion in increased Alzheimer’s research funding, reflecting his commitment to finding a cure.
- The Trump Administration is working to encourage new, innovative approaches to treating childhood cancer.
- President Trump signed Right to Try legislation to give terminally ill patients the ability to access potentially lifesaving cures.
- The President launched an initiative to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years.
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