On September 24, 2020, President Trump issued an executive order that outlines a new plan for affordable, high-quality healthcare. The America First Healthcare Plan is aimed at protecting individuals with preexisting conditions and giving them access to care they can afford.
The order directs the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and the Treasury to maintain and build upon existing actions to:
- Expand options for affordable healthcare
- Expand access to affordable medicines, including accelerating the approvals of new generic and biosimilar drugs and facilitating the safe importation of affordable prescription drugs from abroad
- Ensure consumers have access to meaningful price and quality information before the delivery of care
- Reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in the healthcare system
The order directs the HHS to collaborate with Congress to reach a legislative solution to end surprise medical billing by December 31st of this year. If a solution is not reached by that given date, the HHS will be directed to take administrative action to prevent out-of-pocket expenses that cannot be reasonably foreseen.
Keep in mind, there will be no changes to existing laws or regulations. The order only directs federal agencies to issue new guidance to implement the order’s policies. Therefore, the specific impact of the order remains unclear until further action is taken.
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