• As part of the tax reform package, the Trump Administration eliminated Obamacare’s individual mandate and penalty that compelled people to buy more expensive and more comprehensive insurance than they needed. Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet

• On August 1, 2018, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury increased options for Americans facing extremely high insurance premiums by releasing a rule allowing for the expansion of short-term, limited-duration health plans.
• The plans are expected to be utilized by millions and be up to 50 to 80 percent cheaper than Obamacare options.

• In June 2018, President Trump’s Administration issued a regulation expanding “association health plans” to increase the ability of small employers and self-employed business owners in the same industry or geographic area to join to purchase health coverage, thereby lowering prices and increasing options.

• Established financial assistance to help individuals and families who otherwise cannot afford health coverage purchase it through state and federal marketplaces.
• Created a tax credit for small businesses that provide health coverage to their employees
• Businesses with fewer than 25 employees may qualify for a tax credit worth up to 50 percent of their premium costs (up to 35 percent for tax exempt/non-profit employers).
• Prohibited charging more for women to receive coverage
• Since September of 2013, the uninsured rate for women has dropped nearly 50 percent, meaning that about 9.5 million adult women have gained coverage.

• Required health insurers to provide consumers with rebates if the amount they spend on health benefits and quality of care, as opposed to advertising and marketing, is too low. Thanks to a provision in the Affordable Care Act, if your insurance company isn’t spending at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on medical care, they have to send you some money back.
• Phases out the “donut hole” coverage gap for Medicare prescription drug coverage to save Medicare beneficiaries money

Nearly 10.7 million Medicare beneficiaries have received discounts over $20.8 billion on prescription drugs – an average of $1,945 per beneficiary – since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.

• Expanded competitive bidding in Medicare to lower costs for durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs and hospital beds

CMS Fact Sheet: Medicare Competitive Bidding Program Finds $42 Billion in Savings. Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet

• Reduced drug costs through increased Medicaid rebates, expanded discount programs, and established a new system for approval of more affordable versions of biologic drugs.

• Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet Empowered Americans to take charge of their health care decision-making by establishing tax-free Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).  This enabled more than six million Americans who have enrolled in HSA-eligible plans to save money tax-free for current and future medical expenses.

• Infused transparency about price and quality into the health care system and launched an initiative to make electronic health records available to most Americans within 10 years.  The President also directed Federal agencies to inform beneficiaries of the prices paid to doctors and hospitals and empowered Americans to find better value and better care, largely through increased competition, and he ordered Federal agencies to use improved health IT systems to facilitate the rapid exchange of electronic health information to improve the quality of care for Americans.

• Helped provide treatment to nearly 17 million people by establishing or expanding more than 1,200 community health centers focused in high-poverty areas.  Increased the number of patients treated at health centers by more than 60 percent, to nearly 17 million people, since 2001 Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet.

• Increased funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the primary Federal agency for medical research, by more than 44 percent since 2001, and fulfilled the commitment to double the NIH budget over the five-year period from 1998 to 2003.  This contributed to breakthroughs such as the development of the HPV cancer vaccine, advances in cell reprogramming, the development of the Cancer Genome Atlas, and the completion of the Human Genome Project.

• Expanded the Trade Adjustment Assistance program add a tax credit to help displaced workers afford health insurance.

He also signed a bill that allocates 4 billion dollars to help face the opioid crisis in 2018

The community health centers initiatives helped the underprivileged gain access to primary preventive health services.

President George Bush’s Administration provided funding of over 800 new or renovated Community Health centers. The centers can serve over 3.5 million Americans (The White House, n.d)