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How Trump Can Turbo-Charge Patient Freedom and Lower Medical Costs

How Trump Can Turbo-Charge Patient Freedom and Lower Medical Costs
President Donald J. Trump speaks as U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin (R) listens during a Department of Veterans Affairs announcement of a new program using video and software technology to provide medical care to veterans at the White House Aug. 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images
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Free markets in medicine are not “broken”—they have not been allowed to work since 1944, when wartime federal policies began disturbing market forces. Federal control of prices and service delivery further expanded following the Medicare Act of 1965.

In 2010, Obamacare crushed medical insurance plans, doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device makers, and home health agencies under an avalanche of expanded government control. Costs exploded. Patients suffered, with fewer options for doctors, hospitals, and access to treatment.