Simply Unpredictable—Healthcare under the Trump Administration and 115th Congress

This White Paper compares Trump’s campaign promises related to health care with the actions taken thus far by the executive branch and Congress. At the time this White Paper was drafted, there were close to 100 bills introduced before the 115th Congress that would affect the health care industry, from repealing and replacing the ACA to negotiating Medicare prescription drug prices, and many others impacting the ACA, Medicare, and Medicaid. The President has signed two Executive Orders (EOs) directly affecting the industry. The first, signed just hours after Trump took the oath of office, sets the course for repeal of the ACA. The second, signed on January 30, 2017 will have a wide-reaching effect on all government agencies. Trump’s nominees for HHS Secretary (Rep. Tom Price, M.D. (R- Ga)), CMS Administrator (Seema Verma), and to fill the Supreme Court vacancy (Judge Neil Gorsuch) are proving contentious. But no real movement has been made to repeal the ACA, despite health care being labeled Trump’s top priority, and Congress has certainly not offered any one viable replacement plan.