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CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: United States President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on health care for Americans on Thursday (September 24) that lawyers say will carry little weight as the president seeks to increase his credibility with voters on the hot topic ahead of the November 3 presidential election.
Trump signed the twin orders implementing his “America First Healthcare Plan” in an airport hangar in Charlotte, North Carolina, amid an audience that included medical professionals.
“Under my plan, 33 million Medicare beneficiaries will soon receive a $ 200 card in the mail that they can use to help pay for prescription drugs,” Trump said in describing part of his program.
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The Trump administration also established new rules that allow US states and territories to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada.
Trump said he expected an even deeper reduction in drug prices from an earlier executive order that capped Medicare drug prices to the lowest level paid by other wealthy nations. Pharmaceutical companies and experts have questioned whether that executive order is practical and can withstand expected legal challenges.
One of Thursday’s executive orders aims to ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions retain health care coverage, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters, even as his own administration seeks to end the Act. Affordable Care, or Obamacare, which protects the same right. .
Azar also said Trump was leading him through the second executive order to work with Congress to pass legislation banning the surprise health bills early next year and explore executive action if the legislative offer fails.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, called the effort “false” as she called on the president to “withdraw his lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act amid a pandemic.”
While Trump announced his actions, some lawyers expressed skepticism that he had the authority to make the decision by executive order.
Nicholas Bagley, a professor at the University of Michigan law school, said: “Unless there is a law prohibiting the conduct in question, or the president is exercising a power delegated to him by Congress, his statements are not more legal weight than a tweet. “
“It’s like I’m walking around with a memo called ‘Executive Order,’ and it states that America’s policy is for everyone to have a cheeseburger on Tuesdays,” he added.
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Trump lags behind Democratic rival and former Vice President Joe Biden in national opinion polls, especially on the question of who would best manage health care.
The president’s action, revealed less than six weeks before Election Day on November 3, also comes amid long-standing criticism that he has failed to deliver on promises to propose an alternative to Obamacare even as he works to dismantle that. Program.
Trump has also drawn criticism over his administration’s response to the deadly coronavirus, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans.
In June, the Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court to invalidate the Obamacare law that added millions to the health care safety net.
The Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, prohibited health insurers from denying coverage to Americans with known medical conditions.
Surprise bills occur when patients visit a hospital that they think is in their health insurance network, but are then seen by a doctor or specialist who is outside the network. Trump previously asked Congress to address the issue in 2019.
“What the president is saying is that it is better for all relevant actors – hospitals, doctors, insurance companies – to act together and get legislation passed in Congress that protects patients against unexpected medical bills,” Azar said.
