Welcome back from your coma. What did you miss? Beyoncé released a perfect masterpiece of an album, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, oh and Donald Trump is now the president of the United States of America. Throughout his campaign, President-elect Trump has taken a variety of stances on a number of topics regarding health care. From completely abolishing Obamacare, to women’s reproductive rights and more, some Americans are left placing faith in his assurance while others are rushing to get IUDs, and most are wondering if he is flying by the seat of his pants. In the days following the election, what does the foreseeable Trump presidency mean for you, your coma, and other healthcare concerns? Let’s break it down.

Back in March, Mr. Trump released a seven point plan to tackle the nation’s healthcare:

• A complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act, as no citizen should be forced to buy health insurance.
• Break down state barriers to allow insurance companies to offer plans in any state, as long as the plans are compliant with state requirements.
• Give people the ability to deduct insurance premium payments from taxes, as businesses are already allowed this deduction. Further, Trump pushes for a review of Medicaid options to ensure that everyone who wants healthcare coverage is able to afford it.
• Establish tax-free Health Savings Accounts which could become part of an individual’s estate and passed on to heirs without an estate penalty. Additionally, all family members can use the account without penalty.
• Ensure price transparency from providers and hospital organizations to allow individuals to shop for the best prices on treatments.
• Mandate that Medicaid be handled at the state level, including incentives, to ‘preserve our precious resources.’
• Break down barriers that prevent drug providers of less expensive, safe products from entering the free market. He also proposes to allow consumer access to safe, imported drugs from overseas.

Change

Following his meeting with President Obama, President-elect Trump declared that not all will be lost from the Affordable Care Act, as was originally planned. While not revealing too much and indicating that healthcare is still a work in progress, Mr. Trump established that insurers will still cover people with pre-existing health conditions and those covered by their parents’ insurance will still be covered until age 26, two standing features of Obamacare that will remain intact.

Technicality 

Trump claims the transition will not leave Americans without health insurance, as the adjustment will happen simultaneously. The alleged driving force behind successful healthcare options is the use of competition among insurance companies. The idea is that competition leads to higher quality service and better options at lower prices.

Rights

In building their platform, Donald Trump and Mike Pence were not shy about their stance on women’s health and reproductive rights. The republican duo has made it clear that they are not in favor of allowing access to even the most basic women’s reproductive rights and needs. As the former governor of Indiana, Mike Pence has lead the fight to defund Planned Parenthood not only in Indiana, but nationwide. His push to ban abortions included the demand to bury or cremate fetal tissue, and he has openly declared an interest in overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that affirmed a woman’s right to an abortion.

In his most recent interview with Lesley Stahl of ‘60 Minutes,’ Trump claimed that “if it were overturned, it would go back to the states” meaning there is a chance for some states to ban abortion entirely. “Well, they’ll perhaps have to go” added the president-elect, “they’ll have to go to another state.”

Mr. Trump has made it clear that there is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding his health care plans, and time will reveal more details.