November 23rd, 2016
As more of the details are revealed of what the Trump administration will look like and what they will focus on, it is clear that change is in the air. The most important question to mature Americans is – what will Trump do with Medicare?
While President-elect Trump routinely indicated during the campaign that he would leave Medicare alone, he has shifted his stance (some say flip flopped) on other campaign statements, like pressing the prosecution of Hillary Clinton and climate change, so it is not out of the question that he could modify his approach to Medicare. He already has a Republican led house that wants to change Medicare substantially as detailed in the “Better Way” plan that Paul Ryan and his fellow Republicans put forth last June. While there are still many details that need to be defined in the Ryan plan and even more details to be revealed in how Trump will deal with Medicare, we need to watch closely how certain issues are dealt with. For Instance:
- Obamacare – Substantially changing or replacing Obamacare will impact Medicare, possibly in some good ways and in some bad ways, such as:
- Will he continue, change or eliminate the way the Medicare Part D Donut hole was handled under Obamacare?
- Will there be more control exercised over the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) so that they can’t arbitrarily change payments and access to healthcare medicines and services?
- Will he change the biosimilar pathway that was authorized by Obamacare?
- How much and what parts of the Ryan plan will he embrace?
- How will he deal with the highly volatile issue of drug prices and its impact on pharmaceutical innovation?
- Will he follow through on his statements that seemed to support the importation of medicines from other countries?
- Will he follow through on his support of eliminating the non-interference clause in the Part-D law?
- Will he stop the cuts to Medicare Advantage that have been imposed by the Obama Administration and instead encourage this payment for results approach?
- Who will he choose to lead the Department of Health and Human Services?
These are just a few of the things that RetireSafe will be watching as the new Administration assumes power. They are important to the well-being of all of us who depend on Medicare and we will keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Thair Phillips – President