“I’m the one who made low-cost insulin possible for millions of Americans,” Donald Trump recently declared on his social media platform, Truth Social, and “evil” Joe Biden “has nothing to do with it.”
Trump’s claim is clearly his announcement In 2020, it was announced that some (but not all) pharmaceutical companies had agreed to limit out-of-pocket costs for insulin, which over 7 million Americans need to manage their diabetes, to $35 per month for individuals enrolled in a Medicare drug plan. This voluntary plan was never implemented.
By contrast, Biden’s Inflation Control Act, opposed by all Republicans in Congress, would require companies to set a monthly cap of $35 on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries.
President Trump also issued an executive order in 2020 to provide some prescription drugs free or at a discount to low-income Americans served by Federally Qualified Health Centers. At the time President Trump left office, Congress had not appropriated the funds needed to implement the executive order, and it had not yet gone through the Department of Health and Human Services rulemaking process. In October 2021, HHS Withdrew the proposed initiative “Due to excessive administrative costs and burdens.”
That means “millions of Americans” lacked access to insulin, or other medicines, at low prices while Trump was in the White House.
Trump is adamant Opposed Despite containing some very popular legislation, Regulations It also prohibits companies from denying coverage or raising premiums to people with pre-existing conditions (about 27% of adults under age 65). Uninsured Americans States that expanded Medicaid coverage to low-income adults and provided subsidies to those states helped reduce the share of low-income adults from 16 percent to about 10 percent.
After President Trump failed to convince Congress to repeal the ACA, his administration shortened the ACA’s open enrollment period. program The government cut the enrollment period for new policyholders in half to six weeks, slashed advertising budgets by 90 percent, cut funding for enrollment assistance, and eliminated government spending to reduce deductibles and copayments for low-income policyholders. Enrollment fell from 12.7 million in 2016 to 11.4 million in 2020, before bouncing back up to 12 million during the pandemic.
As president, President Trump has never laid out a detailed plan for health care reform, despite repeatedly promising to do so. Over 17% of US GDPAs a candidate for reelection, Trump has offered little more than vague, empty, and biting generalizations. like “Obamacare is too expensive and not good health care. I will come up with a better, cheaper alternative! People will be happy, not sad!”
Meanwhile, President Biden has made accessible, affordable, and better quality health care one of his top priorities.
The Inflation Control Act gives HHS the authority to: Negotiate The bill would raise the prices of 10 popular drugs approved by pharmaceutical companies in 2026, to 15 in 2027 and 20 in 2028, and to 20 in 2029. For such companies, It would reimburse Medicare if drug price increases exceed the rate of inflation.The law would limit Medicare Part D out-of-pocket costs to $2,000 per person per year.It also would increase subsidies for middle-class Americans who buy plans on the ACA Marketplaces.
Biden also proposed health care reform. agenda 2nd term: Increase coverage for uninsured Americans (about 7.7% of the U.S.) populationIt would cover more people by adding a public option to the choices available under Obamacare. 12 states It does not expand Medicaid eligibility, continues to reduce costs by benchmarking prescription drug prices with other countries, expands coverage for mental health and substance abuse disorders, and, most ambitious of all, limits annual health care spending to 8.5 percent of personal income.
Healthcare costs top Americans’ cost list Most Worried It ranks higher than gasoline and groceries. 57% of Americans believe The government should make health insurance available to all Americans, but a majority of Americans prefer private insurance to public insurance. Sixty-two percent have a favorable view of Obamacare, whose tax credit subsidies expire after 2025. And 80% think it’s “very important” that Biden and Trump address health care policies like insurance premiums, abortion and opioid addiction.
The differences between the candidates on this issue seem clear. Isn’t that right?
Glenn C. Altshuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies Emeritus at Cornell University.
