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 Trump did not give the newspaper specifics about his proposals to
replace Democratic President Barack Obama's signature health
insurance law, but said the plan was nearly finished and he was
ready to unveil it alongside the leaders of the
Republican-controlled Congress. The Republican president-elect takes
office on Friday.
"It’s very much formulated down to the final strokes. We haven’t put
it in quite yet but we’re going to be doing it soon," Trump told the
Post, adding he was waiting for his nominee for health and human
services secretary, Tom Price, to be confirmed.
The plan, he said, would include "lower numbers, much lower
deductibles," without elaborating.
“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” Trump said. “There
was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you
don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”
Trump was also quoted as saying in the interview that he would
target pharmaceutical companies over drug pricing and insist they
negotiate directly with the Medicare and Medicaid government health
plans for the elderly and poor.
U.S. House Republicans won passage on Friday of a measure starting
the process of dismantling the Affordable Care Act, popularly known
as Obamacare, despite concerns about not having a ready replacement
and the potential financial cost of repealing the law.
With the vote, Republicans began delivering on their promise to end
Obamacare, also a campaign pledge of Trump, who has called the
program a "disaster."
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The law, which expanded health coverage to some 20 million people,
has been plagued by increases in insurance premiums and deductibles
and by some large insurers leaving the system.
Republicans have called Obamacare federal government overreach and
have sought to undermine it in Congress and the courts since it was
passed by Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in 2010.
Democrats say Obamacare has allowed growing numbers of Americans to
get medical insurance and helped slow the rise in healthcare
spending.
(Writing by Mary Milliken; Editing by Will Dunham and Peter Cooney)
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