The moves are likely to be inconsequential to many people in terms of what they pay in out-of-pocket health care costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As President Donald Trump\u2019s health care agenda for a second term takes shape<\/a>, it\u2019s becoming clear that many Joe Biden-era policies won\u2019t make the cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Monday, Trump signed a sweeping order<\/a> aimed in part at reversing several Biden administration executive orders on health care, including efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs for people on Medicare and Medicaid, enhancing the Affordable Care Act\u2002<\/a>and increasing protections for Medicaid enrollees. The so-called initial rescissions order, according to the Trump White House, is aimed at Biden policies that it says are \u201cdeeply unpopular\u201d and \u201cradical.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The moves by Trump, experts say, are likely to be inconsequential to many Americans in terms of what they pay in out-of-pocket health care costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One Biden effort overturned by Trump, for example, had directed Medicare to look at ways to lower drug costs, including whether to impose a $2 monthly out-of-pocket cap on certain generic drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That initiative, however, was only in the development stage, said Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and it was unclear whether it would be implemented at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden\u2019s bigger health care initiatives<\/a>, such as a $35 monthly cap on insulin, a $2,000 annual out<\/a>–<\/a>of<\/a>–<\/a>pocket cap on prescription drugs<\/a> and Medicare\u2019s negotiating drug pricing provision weren\u2019t affected by Trump\u2019s executive actions Monday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen administrations change over, many of them want to undo some of the actions of other presidents, even when those are more symbolic,\u201d Dusetzina said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, she said, Trump\u2019s move signals that the incoming administration may be unwilling to move forward on any policies laid out by its predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt could mean that the Trump administration is not interested in pursuing any of the work that has since developed out of these executive orders,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the actions Monday were expected, experts say, including weakening the Affordable Care Act<\/a>, also known as Obamacare, a primary goal during Trump’s first term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump overturned a policy that had extended Obamacare\u2019s open enrollment period an additional 12 weeks in 36 states, giving uninsured adults more time to sign up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also rescinded an order aimed at strengthening Medicaid, which included providing more outreach funding to states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the policies eliminated, however, had previously aligned with Trump\u2019s goals \u2014 possibly indicating a change in his priorities, said Larry Levitt, executive vice president of health policy at KFF, a nonprofit group that researches health policy issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In jettisoning Biden\u2019s order to look into new ways to lower out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs, Levitt said, it could signal that Trump is less serious about addressing the cost of health care in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrump is kind of wiping the slate clean,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you contrast Day 1 of this Trump administration with the last one, it is a different approach to health care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Levitt said it remains unclear whether the Trump administration supports Medicare\u2019s negotiating drug prices, a key provision in Biden\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act. Last week, Medicare announced the next round of prescription drugs up for negotiations<\/a>, including Ozempic and Wegovy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrump could signal that he wants to continue drug price negotiation, or, alternatively, try to repeal it,\u201d Levitt said. \u201cThe Trump administration has quite a bit of leeway to choose to negotiate more aggressively or less aggressively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arthur Caplan, the head of the division of medical ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, said that for now, it appears that Trump is proceeding on health care costs \u201cwith great caution,\u201d leaving Biden\u2019s bigger initiatives alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Trump has advocated for a minimalist approach to government, Caplan said Trump is aware that the U.S. pays much higher prices for care than other countries and that the government may need to intervene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Caplan said he hopes Trump leaves the Medicare negotiation provision in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight now, he seems to be nibbling on the edges,\u201d Caplan said. \u201cBut I hope he doesn\u2019t go further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nA change in priorities<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n