By Lawrence Wilson

President Donald Trump on Jan. 15 released his administration’s new health care affordability plan, which aims to lower prices through marketplace reforms that include price negotiation, increased competition, and greater price transparency.

Trump’s Great American Health Plan includes actions the administration has already introduced or is working to implement. If codified in federal law rather than being enforced through executive orders and federal regulations, the provisions are expected to carry greater weight and be more likely to last through future administrations.

“Instead of putting the needs of big corporations and special interests first, our plan finally puts you first and puts more money in your pocket,” Trump said in a video announcement. He called on Congress to pass the health care plan.

Reducing Prescription Drug Prices

The Trump administration has so far negotiated reduced drug prices for Medicaid patients with 15 pharmaceutical manufacturers through his Most-Favored Nation Prescription Drug Pricing plan.

The plan calls for pharmaceutical manufacturers to offer their lowest price on drugs to Medicaid customers, as well as to sell some drugs directly to U.S. patients at lower prices, introduce any new medications into the U.S. market at the lowest available price, and reinvest revenue realized from higher drug prices in other developed nations into the U.S. economy.

The policy is aimed at leveling prices between the United States and other developed nations, which have long enjoyed a price advantage over the United States.

Trump is asking Congress to make the policy law, with a grandfather clause for preexisting deals made by the administration.

The plan would also allow more provenly safe medications to be dispensed without a prescription, reducing prices by increasing competition and avoiding the expense of consulting a doctor.

Direct Payments to Consumers

The Trump plan prioritizes making federal assistance in purchasing health care directly available to consumers rather than channeling the funds through insurance companies.

This contrasts with Obamacare, which operates by providing tax credits to consumers, which are paid directly to health insurers. Republicans have argued that the practice is both inflationary and a potential source for fraud. Democrats have suggested making them permanent.

“The president thinks that is far too narrow a view on what is ailing our health care system, and that is why he is putting something out that is much broader on how to improve affordability for American patients, not just in Obamacare,” a White House spokesperson told reporters on Jan. 15.

A plan to provide funded Health Savings Accounts as an alternative to extending the Obamacare enhanced subsidies, which expired in December 2025, failed to advance in the Senate.

Price Transparency

Trump’s plan would compel health insurers to provide more information to consumers by adopting a “Plain English Insurance” Standard in communicating rates and coverage comparisons in simple terms.

Insurers would be required to publish on their websites information on the percentage of revenue paid out in claims, the percentage of claims denied, and the average wait time for routine care.

Health care providers who accept Medicare or Medicaid would be required to prominently post their pricing and fees in their offices for patients to see.

The first Trump administration instituted a 2019 requirement that hospitals disclose their prices to the public. However, enforcement and compliance was limited.

The Trump administration proposed an updated transparency rule in December 2025.