Clinton vs. Trump on 5 Insurance Issues
November 8, 2016 1:09 AM
Today is the culmination of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election \ between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump. We look back at what they had to say about insurance over the past several months.
The Affordable Care Act
Clinton: Supportive of the Affordable Care Act, Hillary Clinton wants to build on the healthcare laws successes, while making some tweaks such as a repeal of the Cadillac tax and increased access to pharmaceutical benefits.Trump: Seeks a repeal of the ACA, but wants to keep some parts of it, including the pre-existing condition exclusion provisions.
Health Coverage Costs
Although both candidates agree the cost of healthcare coverage needs to go down, both come at it though some slightly different methods.Trump proposes to increase consumer choice, provide individual tax relief for health insurance and keep plans portable and affordable. He also seeks to break health insurance company monopolies and allow individuals to buy insurance across state lines.Clinton has also argued against health insurance monopolies and has published a comprehensive plan for reducing out-of-pocket health insurance costs.
Insurer Consolidation
With recent announcements of big proposed mergers between insurer groups (Humana and Aetna, Anthem and Cigna, etc.), both Trump and Clinton have expressed concern this will lead to fewer options for consumer
Insurance Sales Across State Lines
Currently, states set their own regulations for insurance and establish their own requirement, inhibiting interstate sales of health insurance. This has been a major policy initiative for Trumpmodify these laws in an effort to increase competition. Clinton has not addressed this topic on the campaign trail so far.
Single-payer
Clinton: Prefers the ACA model over a single-payer model.Trump: While he says he would repeal the ACA, he has made comments suggesting he would be open to some kind of free healthcare option or single-payer system.