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(by Elaine Mallon, The National News Desk) – President Donald Trump unveiled his new healthcare plan for Americans dubbed “The Great Healthcare Plan” on Thursday.
“We’re calling it the great health care plan,” Trump said in a five minute video.
“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. The government is going to pay the money directly to you. It goes to you, and then you take the money and buy your own health care.”
A brief fact sheet posted on the White House website stated that if the plan is passed by Congress, then insurance companies will no longer receive taxpayer funded subsidy payments. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has previously criticized the fact that major health care companies are subsidized by the government, saying this allows companies to increase their profits. Americans will then get to directly choose the healthcare plan of their choice.
Trump said he plans to further reduce insurance premiums by putting an end to “giant kickbacks” paid to insurance brokers and pharmacy benefits managers.
In addition to cutting off subsidy payment to insurance companies, Trump’s health care plan would require “unprecedented accountability and transparency” from insurance companies. This means that companies will be required to use “Plain English” in written explanations of their plans to consumers, to publish the percentage of revenues paid out for claims versus overhead costs and profits on their websites, and to publish rejection rates of insurance claims.
Trump is extending the same level of transparency to hospitals and providers as well, requiring those that accept Medicaid or Medicare to “prominently post all prices at their place of business, so that you are never surprised, and you can easily shop for a better deal or better care.”
The president also said the plan will also codify his previous executive orders ensuring that Americans pay the same “prices for prescription drugs that people in other countries pay.” He estimated that drug prices could fall by 80% to 90%.
The debut of “The Great Healthcare Plan” comes ahead of a Senate vote which would extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Last week, the House passed a three-year-extension on those subsidies, which expired at the end of last year.
By The National News Desk, published at Fox San Antonio on Jan. 15, 2026. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
NOTE TO STUDENTS: Before answering the questions, read the “Background” and watch the video under “Resources.”
1. How will health insurance companies be affected if the “Great Healthcare Plan” is passed by Congress?
2. Why has Democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders criticized subsidies paid to insurance companies?
3. In what ways will President Trump’s health care plan require “unprecedented accountability and transparency” from insurance companies?
4. How will the plan require transparency from hospitals and medical providers as well?
5. a) Define codify as used in para. 8.
b) What will the president’s plan codify?
6. Left-leaning media reports criticize the president’s announcement as being sparse on details. However, others point out this was just an announcement on the main points of the plan that he is calling on Congress to enact.
Ask a parent to read the Fact sheet from the White House then answer a) and b):
(NOTE: The president’s video announcement, with transcript, are provided under “Resources” below.)
a) What is your reaction to the president’s proposed plan?
b) Trump is calling on Congress “to enact the Great Healthcare Plan.”
-Do you think Congress will do so?
-Do you think Congress should do so?
Please explain your answers.
Background
From an x post by press secretary Karoline Leavitt: President Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan will:
- Lower Prescription Drug Prices
- Lower Insurance Premiums
- Hold Big Insurance Companies Accountable
- Maximize Price Transparency
The plan rests on four pillars:
- codifying most-favored-nation drug pricing for 80-90% cuts on some prescription medications
- redirecting ACA (Obamacare) subsidies (from health insurance companies) to individual Health Savings Accounts to lower premiums by 10-15%
- mandating insurer accountability with public rate and denial data
- requiring price transparency from Medicare and Medicaid providers
It arrives as ACA (Obamacare) benchmark premiums surge 115% to $1,904 monthly in 2026 after subsidies expire, risking 1.4 million more uninsured. Supporters like GOP lawmakers hail it as a win over big insurance, while critics call it recycled ideas lacking detail and protections. (from a Jan. 15 Grok AI summary)
Resources
FOR MORE INFO, SEE: White House announcement.
Watch the video of President Trump announcing his “Great Healthcare Plan”
The following is the transcript of the video above, President Trump’s announcement:
“Today, I’m thrilled to announce my plan to lower healthcare prices for all Americans and truly make healthcare affordable again. We’re doing things that nobody’s ever been able to do. We’re calling it the Great Healthcare Plan.
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. The government is going to pay the money directly to you. It goes to you. And then you take the money and buy your own health care. Nobody’s ever heard of that before, and that’s the way it is.
The big insurance companies lose, and the people of our country win.
This proposal locks in the massive discounts on prescription drugs that my administration is achieving through our most favored nation drug pricing agreement. Now, when you hear about that, for 40 years they’ve been trying to do it, but they’ve never been able to do it. No other president was able to do it. I got every other country to approve it by the use of tariffs and other things. They all approved it. Nobody else got it. No other president got it. And for the most part, they didn’t even try because they felt it was impossible.
It’ll bring down drug prices 80, 90 percent in some cases, just numbers that nobody’s ever heard of before. Your prescription drugs will come way, way down. And under this policy, the prices of many drugs will be slashed by 300, 400, and even 500 percent starting this month at the TrumpRx.gov. So instead of Americans paying the highest drug prices in the world, which we have for decades, we will now be paying the lowest cost paid by any other nation. So any other nation that’s paying the lowest cost, that’s what we’re going to pay, and the American people will get the savings.
So I have to reiterate, the lowest price in the world is what you’re going to pay. Before, you were paying the highest price in the world by far, and the politicians did nothing about it. So I’m asking Congress to complete the work that we’ve started.
Next, my plan would reduce your insurance premiums by stopping government payoffs to big insurance companies and sending that money directly to the people. Obamacare was designed to make insurance companies rich. I call it the Unaffordable Care Act, with billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies that help their stock prices skyrocket over 1,700 percent, as you paid more money for healthcare every single year, more and more. The premiums went higher and higher.
I want to end this flagrant scam and put extra money straight into the healthcare savings account in your name, and you go out and buy your own healthcare. And you’ll make a great deal. You’ll get better health care for less money. That way you can choose the care that is right for your family.
To further reduce insurance premiums, my plan ends the giant kickbacks to insurance brokers and corporate middlemen that only drive up the costs. And that’s what they’re intended to do, drive up the costs. But we’re driving down the costs. And it fully funds a long-neglected part of the law known as the cost-sharing reduction program.
This measure alone should cut premiums on the most popular Obamacare plans. It’s hard to believe there are any because it’s a hated program. It’s unaffordable. But it’s going to cut them by an average of 10 to 15 percent.
Next, the Great Health Care Plan. That’s the name. It’s called the Great Health Care because it’s great health care at a lower price. It mandates unprecedented accountability and transparency from insurance companies and all health care providers so that special interests can no longer profiteer at your expense.
As the saying goes, sunlight is the best disinfectant. That is why my plan orders all insurance companies to publish rate and coverage comparisons in very plain English. It requires insurers to publish detailed information about how much of your money they’re going to be paying out in claims versus how much they are taking in in profits. In other words, you will be able to watch the scam.
It forces them to release detailed data on how many claims are being denied and whether those denials are eventually overturned on appeal. And most importantly, it will require any hospital or insurer who accepts Medicare or Medicaid to prominently post all prices at their place of business so that you are never surprised and you can easily shop for a better deal or better care, and you’re going to end up doing both.
You’re going to get a better deal and better care. We will have maximum price transparency, and costs will come down incredibly.
I’m calling on Congress to pass this framework into law without delay. Have to do it right now so that we can get immediate relief to the American people, the people I love.
Thank you very much.”
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