Report: Trump Planning September Rollout of GOP Healthcare Plan

The Donald Trump administration continues to mull whether to roll out its long-awaited Republican healthcare plan as an alternative to the Democrats’ Medicare for All and public option proposals.

The White House has considered launching its GOP healthcare plan with a September speech, seeksing to provide a viable and credible alternative to Medicare for All and to showcase that the Trump administration has a plan in place if the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare.

The suggested rollout of the Trump proposal arises as the president promised in March the GOP will become the “party of health care.”

The White House’s plan would contrast with the 2020 Democrat presidential candidates, many of whom have proposed radical solutions such as the single-payer Medicare for All, or a government option, which many experts believe would also lead to single-payer health care.

The Wall Street Journal report suggests that that the Trump healthcare plan would include elements such as high-risk pools for patients with preexisting conditions, encouraging health insurance sales across state lines, giving states more flexibility with health care, linking price transparency to quality metrics, and more insurance options for American patients.

To help with designing his healthcare plan, President Trump tapped Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Bill Cassidy to help draft a plan.

Sen. Cassidy previewed his proposed plan in April with Breitbart News, which would counter proposals such as Medicare for All. Cassidy’s plan would work as a federalist-style healthcare plan that “builds upon the Children’s Health Insurance Program [CHIP].”

Cassidy continued, saying that his plan “protects the patient with federal protections but gives the states latitude to put in a program which works for that particular state, and builds upon the CHIP program, which just has a track record of success.”

Sen. Cassidy worked with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on their Graham-Cassidy block-grant Obamacare repeal program, which nearly passed through the Senate in 2017.

As the White House continues to draft its healthcare proposal, many rising freshman Republican senators such as Sens. Scott, Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Mike Braun (R-IN) have proposed legislation that would increase healthcare and drug price transparency, address surprise medical bills, and improve healthcare for Americans.

Sens. Scott and Braun have also contended that the GOP needs to encourage the healthcare industry to change, or else Democrat proposals such as Medicare for All will win.

Braun shared with Breitbart News the argument that “Republicans need to force” change in the healthcare industry. Braun said that if the industry does not change itself, Medicare for All will win.

Sen. Scott told Breitbart News in an interview in July that he gave the healthcare industry an ultimatum: either the healthcare industry will lower prices, or Congress will.

Sen. Scott told the healthcare industry, “Here’s what’s going to happen: We are going to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Either you can be part of the conversation and come up with ideas how to solve it, or we’re going to do something.”