Some Trump Healthcare Highlights

This is not a political post. I hope it doesn’t start any arguments. I just want some constructive discussion about what we might see in healthcare in the next couple of years in the United States.

I will say I’m a bit excited about Robert F Kennedy Jr being confirmed for basically the head of healthcare in America. I had to Google to find out Xavier Becerra was the previous head of Housing and Human Services (HHS).

I don’t know the names of any other Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS). It’s weird. I hear the names of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and other prominent cabinet officials in the news all the time.

Yet I very rarely hear anything about the Secretary of HHS. It tells me for a long time, healthcare was a bit on autopilot.

You’d think I would hear more of what changes are made. Especially since I work in the healthcare industry.

Sure. Occasionally you hear about insulin being capped at a $35 copay. Or ‘we’re making healthcare more affordable’. Although I haven’t heard a lot of specifics on that one.

For the most part though, there’s not a lot of meaningful change. Yet most people would agree that there is a huge need for change in US healthcare.

Here is an interesting article from the accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers on some of the proposed changes we may expect from the Trump administration.

I don’t want to go through every detail. I will hit on two highlights that may make a difference.

Of course my favorite item is “Focus on chronic disease prevention and management”. That is the main reason I’m excited about RFK Jr being nominated. He has already had the effect of putting chronic disease in the mainstream conversation.

That’s a huge win. Before he came along, the news hardly ever talked about it. The fact that PwC believes the likelihood of this initiative gaining traction is ‘Low’ is very disappointing. Even though they admit it would be positive for both patients and providers.

The Centers for Disease Control estimate at least 129 million Americans have at least one chronic disease. That’s 40% of all Americans.

You think it might be worth looking into?

The other initiative that I’m interested in is increasing pricing transparency requirements for both insurers and hospitals.

Trump tried to do some of this during his first administration.

While price transparency is good, it doesn’t mean anything if the customer isn’t paying for the service. My checkup with my doctor could cost $1 million dollars. If the insurance covers it, what do I care?

Call me cold-hearted, but I believe if people had to pay more for basic healthcare services out of pocket, they may look more into how they can take care of themselves. Rather than believing they can go to the doctor for free when they have a sniffle.

And if consumers became more involved in prevention, demand for healthcare would slow down and prices would drop.

Overall I’m excited about the chronic disease initiatives. People are waking up to the fact that our modern medicine doesn’t have great answers for them. However, I’m not too optimistic about much else.