Compare Trump and Harris’ Health Care Positions and Policy Plans in the 2024 Elections

vice president Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have different positions on health care policy in America, although health care did not play as prominent a role in the campaign in the 2024 presidential election as it did in 2016 or even 2020. The left proposed a sweeping overhaul of Obamacare, and Republicans sought to repeal it.

Harris rejects single-payer health care

During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris’ stance on the future of private health insurance sometimes raised eyebrows. During a 2019 primary debate, Harris raised her hand when moderators asked the candidates if they would get rid of private health insurance. But soon after, she said, “No, she won’t give up private health insurance.”

In April 2019, Harris co-author Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” bill, which would end private health insurance and replace it with a single government insurer for all Americans.

In 2019, Harris released a health care plan that would put the U.S. on a path to government-run health insurance within 10 years, but would not eliminate private health insurance.

“We will allow private insurers to offer Medicare plans as part of this system that meet Medicare’s stringent cost and benefit requirements,” Harris said at the time. “Medicare will set rules for these plans, including price and quality, and private insurance companies will operate by those rules, not the other way around.”

Trump often brings up Harris’ past support for Medicare for All on the campaign trail, accusing her of promising to “force everyone into socialist government-run health care with high taxes and deadly wait times.”

Harris’ campaign says she won’t push for single-payer government health insurance if she becomes president.

“For the last four years as vice president, I have absolutely supported private health care options, but we need to maintain and expand the Affordable Care Act,” Harris said in her debate against Trump.

Trump says he has ‘concepts’ for health care plan

During a debate in Philadelphia, Trump said he would “replace” Obamacare, which congressional Republicans have largely abandoned in recent years. Trump and the Republican Congress tried “cancel and replace” Obamacare failed in 2017.

“Obamacare has always been lousy health care,” Trump said. “Today it’s not very good. And I said if we come up with something and work on something, we will do it and replace it.”

One of the moderators asked for a simple yes or no answer—does he still not have a health care plan?

“I have a concept for a plan,” Trump said. “I’m not the president now, but if we come up with something, I would only change it if we come up with something better and cheaper. And there are concepts and options that we have to do, and you will do it.” We’ll hear about it in the not too distant future.”

At rallies, Harris framed Trump’s attacks on the Affordable Care Act as jeopardizing some of the law’s most popular provisions, such as providing health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions.

Trump has denied these claims. As president, he repeatedly vowed that GOP efforts to replace Obamacare on Capitol Hill would preserve protections for pre-existing conditions.

Trump has struggled to come up with a health care plan while president, sometimes saying he would have a plan in “two weeks.”

As president, Trump opposed Obamacare after its passage. tweet called for its repeal dozens of times, but the most promising attempt to repeal the law failed after a dramatic decision by the late Senator John McCain. thumbs downn voting in 2017.

Trump and Republicans have tried to repeal or weaken the Affordable Care Act in other ways. In December 2020 during coronavirus pandemicTrump administration asked the Supreme Court repeal Obamacare. His filing came the same day the government reported that about half a million people who lost health insurance due to the economic downturn signed up for coverage through HealthCare.gov.

In that case, Texas and other GOP-led states argued that the ACA was essentially rendered unconstitutional after Congress passed Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which eliminated unpopular penalties for not having health insurance but left in place the requirement about insurance coverage. Supreme Court rejected call.

In 2018, the Trump administration temporarily suspended Risk adjustment payments to insurers—money used to fund insurers with sicker, more expensive patients. In 2017, the Trump administration shortened the enrollment period and closed the federal health care exchange for 12 hours on most Sundays.

Harris wants to continue Biden’s crackdown on pharmaceutical companies

Harris called for expanding parts of the Inflation Relief Act that target drug prices, as well as “crack down” on drug makers and insurance “middlemen” who drive up costs.

In 2022, Harris cast the deciding vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, which allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices for its more than 60 million members.

For now, the Biden administration has set price caps on a number of drugs for Medicare patients, including Eliquis for blood clots, Entresto for heart failure and insulin. They will come into force in 2026.

Harris supports expanding legislative caps on insulin prices and out-of-pocket costs beyond Medicare, as some in Congress have proposed. Harris also wants to expand the negotiation program, which would allow Medicare to set limits on more drugs more quickly.

Trump has also promised to lower drug prices, although his campaign recently distanced itself from a proposal he floated: reviving a controversial effort to tie Medicare prices to those in other countries that was scrapped in 2021 amid multiple legal challenges.

Trump says he wants to mandate IVF coverage, but congressional Republicans aren’t interested

Trump has said he wants the government to either fund in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or to require private insurance companies to pay for the expensive and intensive fertility procedure.

Infertility advocates have supported similar proposals on Capitol Hill. One bill touted this summer by a handful of House Republicans would require private health insurance to cover the procedure.

But Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t necessarily agree with Trump on mandatory IVF coverage. IVF is an expensive procedure, costing between $12,000 and $24,000 per cycle. And many couples need multiple IVF cycles to have a baby, as only about 36% of cycles result in a live birth in women aged 35-37 using their own eggs. This percentage drops to 8% per cycle for women over 40 using their own eggs.

Republicans in the Senate twice blocked legislation This would protect access to IVF and require insurance companies to cover the costs of fertility treatments. Senate Democrats voted to call attention to Trump’s claims about fertility insurance. Only two Republicans—Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—voted with Democrats for the legislation.

“If Donald Trump and the Republicans want to protect people’s right to access IVF, they can vote for it,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who sponsored the legislation, told CBS News before the vote. “He has shown that all it takes is one proposal from him and the Republican Party will stand behind him.”

Senate Republicans have repeatedly expressed support for IVF while arguing that Democrats’ legislation goes too far. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Kathy Britt of Alabama introduced their own package this year to protect access to IVF, but Democrats rejected it, questioning its scope and enforcement.

Other Republicans, such as former Gov. Nikki Haley, have said access to IVF is good, but coverage should not be mandatory.

“Both of my children were the result of fertility (treatments),” she said. told CBS News“Facing the Nation” “We want this option to be available to everyone. But you do it in a way that doesn’t require insurance coverage. Instead, you go and make sure that insurance coverage is available and you make sure that you do everything possible. make it accessible.”

More than a dozen states and Washington, D.C. already require some private insurance plans to cover IVF.

Kaya Hubbard and Alexander Tin contributed to this report.