Donald Trump on Wednesday published a seven-point health care reform plan laying out for the first time how he will reform the U.S. health care system after repeatedly pledging to repeal and replace Obamacare with something better.
The reforms, which Trump calls "simply a place to start," are aimed at broadening access to health care, making health care more affordable and improving the quality of care.
Trump's health care reform plan aims at completely repealing Obamacare, breaking down state barriers which prevents sale of health insurance across state lines and making individuals' health insurance premium payments fully tax deductible.
Stating that Obamacare has raised uncertainty among people living the U.S., Trump said, "None of the positive reforms can be accomplished without repealing Obamacare," according to the plan published on Trump's campaign website.
It also calls for price transparency allowing patients to "shop and find the best prices" for their medical care and removing the entry barriers that currently make it more difficult for cheaper drugs from overseas to enter the American health care market.
It also asks individuals to be allowed the usage of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) with tax free contributions and restructure Medicaid to a Block-grant as nearly every state already offers benefits beyond what is required in the current Medicaid structure, the statement said.
The reform plan also stated that providing health care to illegal immigrants costs about $11 billion annually to the U.S. "If we were to simply enforce the current immigration laws and restrict the unbridled granting of visas to this country, we could relieve health care cost pressures on state and local governments," Trump said in the statement.
According to "Budgetary and Economic Effects of Repealing the Affordable Care Act" report by the Congressional Budget Office, released in July 2015, repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACT) would increase the federal budget deficit by $137 billion over 2016-25 and about 24 million U.S. residents would be without insurance.
