Vance Ginn

Vance Ginn served as chief economist of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget during the first Trump administration

Thursday

Vance Ginn

Trump should replace Obamacare with personal accounts

President Donald Trump has reopened the healthcare debate with a mix of ideas that do not align. He has pledged to “terminate” Obamacare, then signaled openness to extending ACA subsidies, then endorsed personal freedom accounts that would send money directly to individuals. These proposals represent very different diagnoses of what is wrong with American health care. No serious reform effort can point in contradictory directions.But this problem extends far beyond Trump. Republicans have offered inconsistent signals, with some now willing to extend ACA subsidies again despite a decade of arguing – correctly – that these subsidies inflate premiums and entrench insurer dominance. Others want to preserve zero premium plans that simply shift costs onto taxpayers.

Trump healthcare

Monday

Vance Ginn

Trump’s Pfizer deal will increase drug costs

President Donald Trump’s new partnership with Pfizer to sell drugs directly to consumers is being cast as a major win for patients. He’s right about the problem: healthcare and prescription drugs cost too much. Families are struggling, and patients often face heartbreaking choices between groceries, rent and the medicines they need. But the proposed solution isn’t tackling the root of the issue. It risks exacerbating federal government failures that created this problem.For starters, Pfizer is claiming that this new campaign is about lowering consumer costs. But it’s really about creating a cozy relationship with the government that nobody else can.

Pfizer