US Donald Trump on Friday announced a new healthcare initiative, dubbed ‘The Great Healthcare Plan’, outlining a $50 billion federal investment aimed at strengthening rural health care across the United States.
Speaking at a White House roundtable on January 16, Trump said the plan would direct $50 billion over five years to all 50 states, calling it the largest effort in U.S. history to improve medical services in small towns and farming communities.
The discussion included the proposed Rural Health Transformation Fund, which Trump said would provide immediate financial support to rural hospitals and communities.
“With the rural health transformation program, we are getting rural communities the health support they need, immediately. These funds will go to empowering rural hospitals, strengthening their workforce, and modernizing facilities and technology,” Trump declared.
Trump sharply criticized the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), repeatedly referring to it as the “unaffordable care act”. He claimed that it had only been driving up costs at hospitals, while benefiting insurance companies.
Arguing that his initiative prioritizes patients over industry profits, he said the money under the new plan will directly reach the American people, not special interest groups.
A central element of the new plan is the introduction of “most-favored-nation” provisions for prescription drugs. Under the policy, the United States would pay the lowest price paid by any country for certain medications.
“Over the years France paid 10% of what we paid. Germany was paying 13 or 14% of what we paid. While we would pay 10 times more. A pill would cost 10 times more in New York than it would cost in London,” Trump said, asserting that the new policy would end what he described as Americans paying the highest drug prices in the world.
The plan also seeks to expand access to verified, safe pharmaceutical drugs by making more medications available for over-the-counter purchase.
In addition, health insurance companies would be required to publicly disclose the share of their revenues spent on patient claims versus administrative costs and profits.
During the roundtable discussion, Trump also threatened to impose tariffs on countries that do not align with his administration’s objective of acquiring Greenland, a remark that drew attention amid otherwise health-focused discussions.
The event brought together members of Trump’s Cabinet, congressional Republicans, healthcare leaders and administration officials. Participants included CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, cardiologist Dr. Andrew McCue of AdventHealth, Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Representatives Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
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