New Trump Healthcare Plan: President Donald Trump has finally shared details of his new health plan, which he calls “The Great Healthcare Plan.” The White House is fully supporting the idea and wants Congress to pass it as law. An important part of this plan is giving money directly to families so they can pay for health care costs themselves. The administration says this will give people more freedom and help lower medical bills.
Trump introduced the plan through a video message and asked lawmakers to act fast. He has spoken many times about direct payments during his second term and has also talked about similar payments in other areas, such as tariff dividend checks. The White House believes this plan will help people control how they spend money on health care while also lowering drug prices and insurance costs.
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Experts Say the Plan Could Create Problems
While the White House is confident, many health policy experts are worried. Several specialists told CNBC that the proposal is unclear and could cause serious issues if it replaces existing support systems.
“I do think it’s a bad idea,” said Gerard Anderson, a professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Anderson explained that direct cash payments may not be enough to replace the help people already get through insurance subsidies. He warned that if people receive cash instead of structured support, some may stop buying insurance because it feels too expensive. This could leave fewer people insured and those who remain may be sicker. When that happens, insurance companies often raise premiums.
Nick Fabrizio, a health policy expert and associate teaching professor at Cornell University’s Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, also shared concerns. He said strong rules would be needed to make sure the money is used for health care.
“I feel very strongly that if you give people money, they will spend it on things other than health care unless it’s like a voucher,” Fabrizio said.
Subsidies and Savings Accounts
Fabrizio said that while some parts of Trump’s broader plan could help in the long run, the risks are still serious. He agreed that ideas like making hospital prices clearer could lower costs over time. However, he warned those benefits could disappear if fewer people stay insured.
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The timing of the proposal has also raised worries. Congress is still deciding whether to bring back enhanced subsidies that helped millions of people afford insurance through the Affordable Care Act since 2021. These extra subsidies ended last year. According to KFF letting them expire could cause premiums to more than double for the average person.
Experts Larry Levitt and Cynthia Cox from KFF have pointed out that Trump and some Republicans have earlier supported replacing ACA subsidies with health savings accounts. These accounts give tax benefits but come with limits. They cannot be used to pay insurance premiums, and only people with certain high-deductible plans can use them.
A White House official said on Thursday that people outside the ACA marketplace would also be eligible for direct payments. Even so, experts remain doubtful.
“You’d have hurdles getting people through the door” and into coverage if health savings accounts remain barred from paying premiums, said Matt McGough, an Affordable Care Act policy analyst at KFF. “It’s really not going to relieve a lot of the [financial] burden for those people.
“The devil is really in the details here,” he added.
