January 15, 2026 2:07PM 

# President Trump’s “Great Health Care Plan” 

By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) 

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![The Great Health Care Plan](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2026-01/Screenshot%202026-01-15%20123836.jpg?itok=-Q_ksAx0) 

President Trump’s “[Great Health Care Plan](https://www.whitehouse.gov/greathealthcare/)” has great ideas that greater simplicity could make even better.

The best ***proposal***: “[Allow More Over-the-Counter Medicines](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/The-Great-Healthcare-Plan.pdf).”

- Government-imposed prescription requirements [increase prices](https://www.cato.org/white-paper/drug-reformation-end-governments-power-require-prescriptions) and block access to countless medicines.

The best ***idea***: Let consumers control health care dollars.

- “Obamacash for enrollees” would expand Obamacare and create countless problems.
- “[Universal health accounts](https://debtdispatch.substack.com/p/reconciliation-20-building-on-the)” would free workers to control the [$1 trillion that employers control](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/end-tax-exclusion-employer-sponsored-health-insurance-return-1-trillion-workers-who)—a larger effective tax cut than Reagan’s.

The best ***addition***: Secure Trump’s [greatest](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/1117157/obamacare-is-now-optional/) first-term health care accomplishment by [permanently](https://www.cato.org/briefing-paper/universal-permanent-health-insurance-relief?ref=bluegrassinstitute.org) removing [barriers](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/biden-short-term-health-plans-rule-creates-gaps-coverage) to Obamacare-exempt plans.

##### Related Tags 

[Politics and Society](https://www.cato.org/politics-society), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) 

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