What’s in the White House’s Health Care Affordability Plan?

January 16, 2026

The White House unveiled a health care framework focused on drug prices, insurance premiums, and transparency measures this week.

The plan, which provides a broad outline, continues the emphasis on health care affordability and the cost of coverage that has been a hallmark of recent discussions in Washington, D.C. Here’s what you need to know:

• Most-favored pricing:  The administration is looking to make most-favored-nation prescription drug pricing the standard, bringing the U.S. in line with what other countries pay for prescription drugs.
  • Voluntarily negotiated deals with HHS/CMS will be grandfathered in, officials noted.
• Over-the-counter products:  The plan also looks to provide more drugs over the counter to reduce the number of products that require doctor’s visits.
• Preference for HSAs:  The plan continues the preference from Republicans to transition insurance subsidies to direct payments into individual health savings accounts (HSA).
• Other notable areas:  The framework also focuses on pharmacy benefit managers, price transparency, claim denial rates, and a new "plain English" standard to help consumers make purchasing decisions.
• What’s next?:  The plan provides a general framework but requires Congress to do the legwork to enact elements in a larger legislative package.
  • It also arrives as the Senate is contemplating the end of enhanced premium tax credits for Affordable Care Act plans and another shutdown deadline looms.

Additional details are available online in this fact sheet.