President Donald Trump announced, seemingly out of thin air, on Friday that he is setting his sights on health insurance providers as he continues his efforts to address affordability concerns.
More than 20 million people are set to see their insurance premiums skyrocket next year, after Congress failed to extend enhanced Obamacare tax credits.
Trump himself has called for the funding for those subsidies to go directly to taxpayers, rather than the insurance providers, but he had largely stayed out of the insurance debate that has captivated Capitol Hill over the past month.
Still, during a Friday ceremony touting new “most favored nation” drug pricing agreements with nine pharmaceutical manufacturers, the president said he would be taking a similar tack with U.S. insurance companies.
“I’m going to call a meeting of the insurance companies. I’m going to see if they get their price down,” Trump announced at the tail end of his remarks after touting Friday’s announcement as the “biggest” healthcare development in U.S. history.
Trump added that insurance companies “are making so much money, and they have to make less, a lot less,” suggesting that he would negotiate 70%-80% premium price reductions. “Maybe we can have reasonable healthcare without having to cut them out.”
The president did clarify that the meeting itself has not been scheduled. Indeed, he admitted meeting with the insurance companies was “just an idea that I had standing here watching these great leaders saying that we’re going to have the lowest prices anywhere in the world.”
On Friday evening, Trump will travel to West Palm Beach, Florida, after delivering economic-focused remarks in North Carolina, and he suggested that the meeting with insurers will either take place during his holiday at Mar-a-Lago or during the first week of January 2026.
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The president’s comments can be seen in full below.
