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Thanks to President Trump, Republicans in Congress have a unique opportunity and platform to turn health care, an issue that has historically been viewed as a GOP weakness, into a winning agenda that appeals to all American patients, taxpayers and voters.
The big question is, are Republicans politically smart enough to get on the side of the little guys and reject the blandishments of Big Pharma?
The numbers from a recent survey by McLaughlin & Associates should make that decision a lot easier and gives them a roadmap, if they're smart enough to follow it.
As Steve Forbes observed in a recent op-ed for his eponymous magazine, much of President Trump’s policy agenda has broad public support and is largely on track to succeed if enacted.
As Mr. Forbes explained:
…recent polling from McLaughlin & Associates shows well over 85% of likely voters favor his policy to bypass costly middlemen fees by allowing direct sales of medicines to patients. Across the board, his policies—from requiring foreign countries to pay their fair share for U.S. medical innovations, to securing unprecedented domestic drug manufacturing investments in the face of emerging threats from China, to ensuring Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) corporations can’t pocket large drug discounts meant for patients—have approval ratings of 80% or more.
Most Americans would probably agree that no one would design a healthcare system that looks anything like the one we have, noted Steve Forbes. It’s confusing, rife with red tape, waste, fraud and abuse, manipulated by corporate middlemen and is far too expensive for patients, employers and taxpayers to sustain. At the same time, however, the U.S. system develops, manufactures and delivers the most cutting-edge medical treatments in the world. It doesn’t add up that America can be at the forefront of innovation and investment, while drowning in antiquated systems that bankrupt families and fleece taxpayers of billions of dollars.
And even in well-run Florida the government-induced market distortions are showing up.
Economists agreed that 4,149,320 Floridians will receive health care through Medicaid this year. That’s about 67,000 people fewer than legislators assumed when crafting the budget.
Yet, Medicaid spending for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2026, assuming no changes in the law, is expected to cost $37.1 billion. That’s $2.1 billion-plus higher than what’s allocated for in the current year base budget.
So, enrollment down – spending up.
Perhaps a combination of DOGE fraud hunting and MAHA concentration on helping the chronically ill lead healthier lives might reverse or stabilize that trend – if Republicans in Congress will get on board, that is.
As Mr. Forbes pointed out, these are complicated problems that too often have led to overly complicated and often self-serving politically directed policies that have made problems far worse for patients and families.
President Joe Biden’s changes to Medicare—part of the Democrats' ridiculously named Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) spending bill—are a perfect recent example. In addition to raiding billions of dollars in so-called Medicare savings to fund unrelated subsidies for big insurers, electric vehicle buyers and other special interests, the IRA’s drug-price control measures led to massive premium spikes, kicked countless seniors off their Part D drug plans and stifled needed R&D investments in new cures and cutting-edge medicines.
However, President Trump’s call for greater accountability, competition and transparency in healthcare—along with the force of nature he brings to the negotiating process—are set to result in real cost savings, to the point of making Democrat-style price controls unnecessary. We should assume he knows this, noted Mr. Forbes, because during his first four years in office increases in drug prices remained at historic lows.
But all this good news is dependent on the Republican congressional majorities getting behind a Trump-aligned agenda made up of commonsense solutions and innovative policies to address the everyday healthcare problems and costs impacting nearly every family.
Thanks to President Trump, Republicans in Congress have a unique opportunity and platform to turn an issue that has historically been viewed as a primary weakness into a winning agenda that appeals to all American patients, taxpayers and voters. To learn more about how these “80/20” healthcare proposals and other free-market reforms advocated by Steve Forbes could bring down costs and improve patient outcomes go to mostfavoredpatient.org.
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Secretary of HHS
- Health Care funding
- Health Insurance
- Big Pharma
- Trump approval rating
- direct sales of medicines
- medical innovations
- Drug discounts
- Waste, fraud and abuse
- government healthcare
- Medicaid
- enrollment
- Medicare
- Inflation reduction act
- Subsidies
- price controls
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