Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has laid out her legislative plans to tackle numerous health care issues. As the Associated Press reports, priorities include holding hearings on “Medicare for all” and bolstering the financial aid available to families purchasing health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare).
Another priority is reducing the price of prescription drugs, notably those obtained through Medicare. Because Trump has also cited this as a priority, many pundits and lawmakers believe progress may eventually be made on this front.
“President Trump said he’d ‘negotiate like crazy’ to bring down Medicare prescription drug prices, and since the midterm election he’s spoken about working with Democrats,” Pelosi wrote to AP in response to written questions. “We have an opportunity to enact the tough legislative negotiating authority needed to actually lower prescription drug prices for consumers.”
Since it is unlikely Republicans would support any stand-alone ACA legislation from Pelosi, the speaker said individual items could be broken out and used as bargaining chips.
Regarding “Medicare for all,” which would amount to universal health coverage for all Americans, Pelosi is cautious, AP reports, even if the idea is gaining traction among new Democratic lawmakers; hence, the proposed hearings on the matter.