Bush
Bush emphasized the importance of affordable healthcare – he believed that it is the absent component within the exceptional healthcare system of the United States. While the government expenditure on health had been growing for many years, Bush believed that to reach efficiency, the United States must leverage electronic health data and other information technologies (National Economic Council, 2006). This would allow the creation of insurance packages tailored to individuals’ needs. To achieve this objective, Bush attempted to provide people with enough information so that they were capable of making decisions.
Obama
Obama’s vision included the authoritative position of the government in healthcare matters. He wanted to make insurance available to every person in the United States. By increasing the number of insured individuals, Obama wanted to decrease the insurance risk (Engel, 2018). Launching a government-controlled insurance plan was the way. However, companies and individuals that were satisfied with their current insurance did not have to switch to the new coverage (Engel, 2018). Because providing insurance to all Americans would require an enormous amount of funding and price control. The President achieved these objectives by making adjustments to tax policies and antitrust law.
Trump
Trump is currently working on his vision of affordable healthcare by cutting prices for prescription drugs and diversifying the market of insurance packages. Also, he emphasized the importance of caring for patients with pre-existing conditions, children, and elderly patients (Engel, 2018). Trump believes that integrating more innovative care is one way of controlling healthcare prices.
Alternative Ways
Despite long-running talks about making healthcare more affordable in the United States, consumer prices have not gone down. Politicians constantly speak of a very complex system and that it is too challenging to make swift changes. Because of the agenda-setting, the public believes that it is true (Chen & Eraslan, 2017). However, it is possible to make radical adjustments by taking control of the healthcare market and making anti-trust laws stricter. Healthcare prices are high because corporations are not willing to part with their revenues. The solution is simple – the government has to regulate drug prices and the market of healthcare services.
References
Engel, J. (2018). Unaffordable: American healthcare from Johnson to Trump. University of Wisconsin Pres.
Chen, Y., & Eraslan, H. (2017). Dynamic agenda setting. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 9(2), 1-32.
National Economic Council. (2006). Reforming health care for the 21st century [PDF document].