Reality television star and real estate developer Donald Trump officially announced his presidential candidacy June 16. Here are nine things to know about Mr. Trump's views on healthcare.
Mr. Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Mr. Trump does have specific policy positions which the campaign will release at a time and method of their choosing.
1. He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. "It's gotta go," Mr. Trump said in a July 2015 interview with CNN. "Repeal and replace with something terrific."
2. He plans to replace the ACA with a free market plan. In place of the ACA, a Trump spokesperson said Mr. Trump proposes a plan that will operate under free market principles, according to Forbes. His plan will give authority to states and allow consumers to buy across state lines, thereby breaking insurance monopolies. Overall, Mr. Trump's plan will "provide choice to the buyer, provide individual tax relief for health insurance and keep plans portable and affordable."
3. He wants to maintain Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. At the January Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Mr. Trump promised to save them "without cutting it to the bone" by "making the country rich again," according to USA Today.
4. He believes in private health plans. Mr. Trump doesn't want the government to be involved in healthcare plans. "The only way the government should be involved, they have to make sure those companies are financially strong, so that if they have catastrophic events or they have a miscalculation, they have plenty of money," Mr. Trump said, according to The Hill. "Other than that, it's private."
5. At one time he supported universal healthcare. "I'm very liberal when it comes to healthcare," Mr. Trump said in a 1999 interview on Larry King Live. "I believe in universal healthcare." But in a July interview with Forbes, a Trump spokesperson said Mr. Trump does not support socialized medicine.
6. He once advocated for a single-payer system. In his 2000 book The America We Deserve, Mr. Trump stated his belief in shifting America to a single-payer healthcare system that would be funded through an increase in corporate taxes. More recently, in a July radio interview, he said he wants people to be taken care of regardless of socioeconomic status. "You can call it anything you want," Mr. Trump said.
7. He wants to help low-income Americans. Although his plan for doing so is unclear, Mr. Trump wants to set up a healthcare system for low-income individuals. "At the lower end, where people have no money, I want to try and help those people," Mr. Trump said, according to The Hill. He plans to "work out some sort of really smart deal with hospitals across the country" to cover costs.
8. He's pro-life. "I'm pro-life and I have been pro-life," Mr. Trump said in a Bloomberg Politics interview. However, his views on abortion have changed over the years. In 1999, Mr. Trump said he was "very pro-choice" on NBC's "Meet the Press."
9. He views vaccines as harmful. In an April 2012 interview with Fox, Mr. Trump linked autism to childhood vaccinations. He tweeted in September 2014 that he is "not against vaccinations for your children, [he's] against them in 1 massive dose. Spread them out over a period of time & autism will drop!"