WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump on Thursday signed two executive orders implementing his 'America First Healthcare Plan', which he promised to ensure highest standard of care anywhere in the world, cutting-edge treatments, state-of-the-art medicine, groundbreaking cures, and true health security for families.
The first order Trump signed declares it is the policy of the Federal Government to protect individuals with preexisting conditions and ensure they have access to affordable care. It envisages improved access to direct primary care arrangements that cut out the middleman and cut red tape to enable patients to spend more time with their doctors.
The President also signed an order to end surprise medical billing and announced that his Administration will send prescription drug discount cards to more than 33 million seniors.
'Under my plan, 33 million Medicare beneficiaries will soon receive a card in the mail containing $200 that they can use to help pay for prescription drugs,' Trump said during a speech at an airport hangar in Charlotte, North Carolina.
'My plan expands affordable insurance options, reduces the cost of prescription drugs, will end surprise medical billing, increases fairness through price transparency, streamlines bureaucracy, accelerates innovation, strongly protects Medicare, and always protects patients with preexisting conditions,' Trump told an audience that included doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers.
Trump said that starting next month, more than 90 percent of the counties will have multiple options of plans to choose from insurance companies.
Under the new policy, both hospitals and insurance companies will be required to publish all of their prices online. 'This transformative policy will allow you to see your exact out-of-pocket costs before you go for treatment. Costs will come way down', according to Trump.
The Trump Administration also finalized rules to import prescription drugs from Canada and to allow low-income Americans to purchase affordable insulin and Epi-Pens at nearly 10,000 federal clinic locations.
Trump insisted that any healthcare reform legislation that comes to his desk from Congress must protect the preexisting conditions or he won't sign it.
Trump said that anti-coronavirus vaccines are being mass-produced in advance so they can be delivered within 24 hours of approval. He claimed that the vaccine will be safe, effective, defeat the virus and end the pandemic.
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