Where Trump, Biden stand on healthcare issues: 8 things to know

President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have some of the same healthcare goals, such as reducing costs, but they disagree on several key issues. Most of their differences center on the president wanting to reduce the federal government's role in healthcare and Mr. Biden pushing to expand it, according to The Wall Street Journal

Here are eight things to know about where the president and Mr. Biden stand on four key healthcare issues: 

The ACA

1. President Trump wants to repeal the ACA and replace it with a new plan, which has not been proposed. The president and his administration have supported a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the ACA. The case will be heard by the Supreme Court on Nov. 10. 

2. Mr. Biden wants to expand the ACA and create a public-option healthcare plan. His plan would give everyone, even those with employer-provided health coverage, the option to buy a government-run insurance plan, according to WSJ

Prescription drugs

3. The president and Mr. Biden both want to lower drug prices. President Trump signed an executive order to import drugs from other countries with lower prices, backed ending rebates that drugmakers give to pharmacy benefit managers and has enacted a faster-paced approval process for new generic drugs that can push prices lower, according to WSJ

4. Mr. Biden has proposed letting Medicare negotiate discounts for drugs, and he supports a proposal to accelerate the development of generic drugs, according to WSJ. He also wants to impose a tax penalty on drugmakers that boost prices of certain drugs over the general inflation rate, allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from other countries and terminate pharmaceutical companies' tax break for advertisement spending. 

Surprise medical bills

5. President Trump and Mr. Biden both want to end surprise medical billing. The president signed an executive order in September directing Congress to pass legislation banning surprise medical bills. Both Republicans and Democrats have been calling for action on surprise medical bills for more than a year, but haven't been able to reach an agreement. 

COVID-19 response

6. The president established a task force in January to oversee the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He left several specific matters, such as acquisition of certain supplies and contact tracing, to the states, according to WSJ

7. Under Mr. Biden's proposal, the federal government would have a more centralized role in responding to the pandemic. 

8. Mr. Biden said he would work with state leaders on mask mandates. The president hasn't called for those mandates, according to WSJ

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Webinars