The announcement, part of a flurry of initiatives from the White House ahead of the midterms, came after a government study found that Medicare is paying 80 percent more than other nations for drugs.
Candidates are pledging to protect pre-existing conditions, a stance often at odds with their votes, but their leaders are vowing to revisit an Affordable Care Act repeal.
The government had a clear obligation to reimburse insurers for assistance provided to low-income people under the Affordable Care Act, a federal judge says.
At a campaign rally in Las Vegas, President Trump said that he and Republicans “will protect patients with pre-existing conditions.” But his Justice Department has said that those provisions under the Affordable Care Act should be overturned.
New work requirements imposed on the state’s Medicaid recipients have left 4,350 low-income residents without health coverage. “I hope these data scare the pants off people,” a panel member said.
President Trump has accused Democrats of trying to “raid,” “rob” or “hurt” Medicare and Social Security, while suggesting he has made both programs “stronger.” Neither claim is true.
Republican and Democratic states clash in oral arguments over whether the health law is unconstitutional now that Congress has eliminated the tax penalty for not having insurance.
Federal officials got a skeptical reaction from state insurance regulators on the value of the plans promoted by the president as a cheap alternative to the Affordable Care Act.