Healthcare in the 2024 GOP Platform: Key Points Revealed

updated August 29, 2024

This content is for your “information and inspiration”, and does not imply my endorsement or recommendation.

The Republican National Convention has concluded and as expected, nominated former President Donald Trump as their candidate for President for the election on November 5, 2024. Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio joined the ticket as the candidate for Vice President.

They also wrote a new Party Platform, shorter than the 2016 one. As Mr. Trump said in his speech to the convention,

This week, the entire Republican Party has formally adopted an agenda for America’s renewal. And you saw that agenda, and it’s very short compared to the long, boring, meaningless agendas of the past.

It’s a series of bold promises that we will swiftly implement when you give us a Republican House. And Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. We have our great speaker of the House with us tonight. Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. Thank you.

Donald Trump

As I did with the 2016 platform, I read it with particular attention to healthcare-related issues . The document is short and the mention of “healthcare” is sparse. The platform begins like this

2024 GOP PLATFORM MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Dedication: To the Forgotten Men and Women of America

PREAMBLE

America First: A Return to Common Sense

The preamble is almost as long as the rest of the document, I didn’t find comments about healthcare in it.

“Twenty Promises”

The Platform then offers twenty promises. (These are all printed in capital letters.)

“To make clear our commitment, we offer to the American people the 2024 GOP Platform to Make America Great Again! It is a forward-looking Agenda that begins with the following twenty promises that we will accomplish very quickly when we win the White House and Republican Majorities in the House and Senate.”

Only two of these “promises” relate to health.

• STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS
• FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE

Following this, there is a Table of Contents for the 10 chapters of the platform, none of which are solely dedicated to healthcare. Instead, health topics are dispersed throughout the document.

I have pulled these out but I want you to read the entire document. The platform is not lengthy but covers a lot of ground without much detail.

Comparison to the 2016 GOP Platform

Because the platforms are so different, I could not directly compare the proposals then and now. Many of the chapters spoke to multiple topics which seemed to me not directly related.

I went through the old platform and picked out mentions of similar topics.

You will find points from the 2016 platform below in italics.

Stop Illegal Immigration

Republicans will secure the Border, deport Illegal Aliens, and reverse the Democrats’ Open Borders Policies that have driven up the cost of Housing, Education, and Healthcare for American families.

Secure the Border

Republicans will restore every Border Policy of the Trump administration and halt all releases of Illegal Aliens into the interior. We will complete the Border Wall, shift massive portions of Federal Law Enforcement to Immigration Enforcement, and use advanced technology to monitor and secure the Border.

We will use all resources needed to stop the Invasion. We will deploy the U.S. Navy to impose a full Fentanyl Blockade on the waters of our Region—boarding and inspecting ships to look for fentanyl and fentanyl precursors.

Enforce Immigration Laws

We will also invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove all known or suspected gang members, drug dealers, or cartel members from the United States, ending the scourge of Illegal Alien gang violence once and for all. We will bring back the Travel Ban, and use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their Home Countries immediately.

look for expeditious agreement between the House and Senate on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which addresses the opioid epidemic from both the demand and supply sides of the problem.

Affordable Healthcare

Healthcare and prescription drug costs are out of control.

Republicans will increase Transparency, promote Choice and Competition, and expand access to new Affordable Healthcare and prescription drug options.

promote price transparency so consumers can know the cost of treatments before they agree to them

empower individuals and small businesses to form purchasing pools in order to expand coverage to the uninsured

propose to end tax discrimination against the individual purchase of insurance and allow consumers to buy insurance across state lines

We will protect Medicare, and ensure Seniors receive the care they need without being burdened by excessive costs.

“Any honest agenda for improving healthcare must start with repeal of the dishonestly named Affordable Care Act of 2010: Obamacare. It must be removed and replaced with an approach based on genuine competition, patient choice, excellent care, wellness, and timely access to treatment. “

Give others the option of traditional Medicare or transition to a premium-support model designed to strengthen patient choice, promote cost-saving competition among providers, and better guard against the fraud and abuse that now diverts billions of dollars every year away from patient care.

Strengthen Medicare

Republicans will protect Medicare’s finances from being financially crushed by the Democrat plan to add tens of millions of new illegal immigrants to the rolls of Medicare. We vow to strengthen Medicare for future generations.

“We intend to save Medicare by modernizing it, empowering its participants, and putting it on a secure financial footing. We will preserve the promise of Medicaid as well by making that program, designed for 1965 medicine, a vehicle for good health in an entirely new era.”

Support Active and Healthy Living

Republicans will support increased focus on Chronic Disease prevention and management, Long-Term Care, and Benefit flexibility.

pledge to restore the FDA to its position as the premier scientific health agency, focused on both promoting and protecting the public health in equal measure

allowing terminally ill patients the right to try investigational medicines not yet approved by the FDA.

urge Congress to pass federal legislation to give all Americans with terminal illnesses the right to try

We will expand access to Primary Care and support Policies that help Seniors remain in their homes and maintain Financial Security.

call for expanded support for the stem cell research that now offers the greatest hope for many afflictions — through adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and cells reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells — without the destruction of embryonic human life

Protect Care at Home for the Elderly

Republicans will shift resources back to at-home Senior Care, overturn disincentives that lead to Care Worker shortages, and support unpaid Family Caregivers through Tax Credits and reduced red tape.

make homecare (for senior adults) a priority in public policy and will implement programs to protect against elder abuse.

Protect Economic Foundations for Supporting Seniors

Republicans will tackle Inflation, unleash American Energy, restore Economic Growth, and secure our Borders to preserve Social Security and Medicare funding for the next Generation and beyond.

Safe, Secure, and Drug-Free Schools

Republicans will support overhauling standards on school discipline, advocate for immediate suspension of violent students, and support hardening schools to help keep violence away from our places of learning.

propose that the bulk of federal money through Title I for low-income children and through IDEA for children with special needs should follow the child to whatever school the family thinks will work best for them

renew our call for replacing “family planning” programs for teens with sexual risk avoidance education that sets abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior

oppose school-based clinics that provide referral or counseling for abortion and contraception and believe that federal funds should not be used in mandatory or universal mental health, psychiatric, or socio-emotional screening programs

Empower American Families

Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents. We will end policies that punish families.

It is the foundation of civil society, and the cornerstone of the family is natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman.

do not accept the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage and we urge its reversal, whether through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning control over marriage to the states

Rebuild Our Cities and Restore Law and Order

Republicans will restore safety in our neighborhoods by replenishing Police Departments, restoring Common Sense Policing, and protecting Officers from frivolous lawsuits. We will stand up to Marxist Prosecutors, vigorously defend the Right of every American to live in peace, and we will compassionately address homelessness to restore order to our streets.

A new Administration must ensure the immediate dismissal and, where appropriate, prosecution of any Department officials who have violated their oath of office.

The next president must restore the public’s trust in law enforcement and civil order by first adhering to the rule of law himself

must not sow seeds of division and distrust between the police and the people they have sworn to serve and protect.

Take Care of Our Veterans

Republicans will end luxury housing and Taxpayer benefits for Illegal Immigrants and use those savings to shelter and treat homeless Veterans.

We will restore Trump Administration reforms to expand Veterans’ Healthcare Choices, protect Whistleblowers, and hold accountable poorly performing employees not giving our Veterans the care they deserve.

Republicans Will Protect and Defend a Vote of the People, from within the States, on the Issue of Life

We proudly stand for families and Life.

We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process, and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights. After 51 years, because of us, that power has been given to the States and to a vote of the People.

We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments.)

affirm the dignity of women by protecting the sanctity of human life… abortion endangers the health and well-being of women, and we stand firmly against it.

call for a permanent ban on federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage

Republicans Will End Left-wing Gender Insanity

We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban Taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop Taxpayer-funded Schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations, and restore protections for women and girls.

support the original, authentic meaning of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. It affirmed that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

This platform was approved and made public by the platform committee on July 8, 2024, and formally adopted at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024.

Link to the complete platform

The Republican National Committee-Our Platform

You can read my review of the 2016 Republican Party Platform here.

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