President Trump has used a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to pursue key policy goals, including improving access to care for patients with kidney disease and increasing transparency on drug prices. At the same time, however, his administration has actively been working to eliminate the ACA.
A July 11, 2019, New York Times article examined the seemingly contradictory approach to policy and what would happen to certain policies of Trump’s if the ACA is repealed.
Ashish Jha, dean for global strategy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and K.T. Li Professor of Global Health, noted that wiping out the ACA would impact initiatives the Trump administration has pursued to lower costs and improve access to surgery, primary care, and cancer treatment.
“I think the administration is going to be very hobbled in terms of their efforts to really improve the delivery system,” Jha said.
Read the New York Times article: Erasing Obamacare Could Undermine Trump’s Own Health Initiatives