Trump health care plan doesn’t help people facing skyrocketing ACA premiums

In a video posted to social media Thursday, President Trump announced an outline for new health care legislation. The plan does not include a remedy for people who buy their health insurance on Healthcare.gov, some of whom are facing sky-high premium hikes this month.

Trump dubbed the ideas “The Great Healthcare Plan.” According to a White House fact sheet and a press call hosted by Medicare and Medicaid chief Dr. Mehmet Oz, the planned legislation, which the administration is asking Congress to develop, has four pillars:

  • Drug price reforms
  • Health insurance reforms
  • Price transparency for health costs
  • Fraud protections and safeguards

Asked for specific policy details, Oz said it was a “broad framework” and referred further questions to a White House official who spoke not for attribution. The official also did not provide detailed answers to reporters’ questions, but did say that this future legislation would not replace other possible laws.

Both Oz and Trump talked about the plan as if it is a replacement for the ACA, but the proposals are much narrower in scope than that law that passed with no Republican votes in 2010.

A bipartisan group of Senators is trying to hash out a bill to extend Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies, so Trump’s plan appears not to preclude that short-term deal moving forward.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R.-Ohio, who has been leading those bipartisan talks on reviving the enhanced subsidies, told reporters Thursday he “loved” Trump’s Great Health Care Plan. He said that the omission of the subsidies in Trump’s plan did not throw a wrench into those negotiations. “No, the biggest wrench in our negotiations is that the Democrat leader has basically made public statements that, to me, sounds like he doesn’t want Congress to make a deal.”

A bill that the House of Representatives passed over the objections of Republican leaders in that body that would be a 3-year extension of the enhanced subsidies appears to be a nonstarter in the Senate, though it still has the support of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

 

Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

Memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. to honor his long civil rights legacy begin in Chicago. Events will also take place in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born and began his activism.

In reversal, Warner Bros. jilts Netflix for Paramount

Warner Bros. says Paramount's sweetened bid to buy the whole company is "superior" to an $83 billion deal it struck with Netflix for just its streaming services, studios, and intellectual property.

Trump’s ballroom project can continue for now, court says

A US District Judge denied a preservation group's effort to put a pause on construction

NASA lost a lunar spacecraft one day after launch. A new report details what went wrong

Why did a $72 million mission to study water on the moon fail so soon after launch? A new NASA report has the answer.

Columbia student detained by ICE is abruptly released after Mamdani meets with Trump

Hours after the student was taken into custody in her campus apartment, she was released, after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed concerns about the arrest to President Trump.

These major issues have brought together Democrats and Republicans in states

Across the country, Republicans and Democrats have found bipartisan agreement on regulating artificial intelligence and data centers. But it's not just big tech aligning the two parties.

More Front Page Coverage