Trump signs Medicare executive order, provides more health care for seniors

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that he said would improve private Medicare plans for seniors, slamming Democrats for what he described as putting health care “under threat” with “Medicare for All” proposals.

Trump, speaking for an hour at a campaign-style rally at a retirement community in Florida, offered few details on his executive order and spent most of his speech attacking the health policies of 2020 Democratic presidential contenders. He said as long as he’s president, “no one will lay a hand on your Medicare benefits.”

“Medicare is under threat like never before,” Trump told the crowd. “I will never allow these politicians to steal your health care and give it away to illegal aliens.”

Shortly after Trump’s speech, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the president has “directed HHS to take a number of specific, significant steps that will meaningfully improve the financing of Medicare, advance the care American seniors receive from their doctors, and improve the health they enjoy.” [CNBC]