Trump Launches Shadow of a "Great Healthcare Plan"

President Donald Trump has unveiled a healthcare proposal he called the “Great Healthcare Plan," outlining cost-cutting ideas but falling short of offering a full replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Dan Diamond and Paige Winfield Cunningham reported for The Washington Post.

President Donald Trump has unveiled a healthcare proposal he called the “Great Healthcare Plan," outlining cost-cutting ideas but falling short of offering a full replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

“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,” Trump said in a White House video.

The administration provided no legislative text, timeline, or indication of GOP support, even as health care costs remain a key issue ahead of the midterm elections.

Officials described the proposal as a “broad architecture” intended to guide lawmakers.

Polls show many voters are unhappy with rising premiums and the expiration of ACA subsidies last month, which spiked marketplace insurance costs. Democrats criticized the plan’s vagueness.

“Donald Trump’s new plan is a Band-Aid for the full-blown health care crisis he and the GOP created,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) told the Post.

The proposal does not introduce new coverage expansions or simplify the U.S. healthcare system. It falls far short of Trump’s past promises to replace the ACA, which has helped 20 million people gain coverage.

Critics also noted that Congress is likely to extend ACA subsidies. Reporting for NBC News, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. called the Trump plan opaque, similar to his other unfulfilled promises.