Trump promising digital age health care approach

Washington DC — The White House is considering ideas like a smartphone app that lets Medicare patients access their claims information.

The Trump administration is taking a pragmatic new tack on health care, with officials promising consumer friendly changes and savings in areas from computerized medical records to prescription drugs.

New Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has been rolling out the agenda, saying it has the full backing of President Donald Trump.

“They are taking a page out of smart policymaking 101 and hitting on themes that everybody cares about,” said Kavita Patel, a health policy expert at the Brookings Institution and a veteran of the Obama administration.

“But there is not a lot of detail on how they’re going to do it.”

The first year of the Trump administration was marked by Republicans’ unsuccessful struggle to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

With Azar installed as Trump’s second health secretary, the administration is shifting to issues of broader concern for people with Medicare and employer-provided coverage.

Many of the ideas have bipartisan support and can be advanced without legislation from Congress.