President Donald Trump's efforts to redirect Obamacare subsidies directly to Americans instead of insurance companies would mark a major shift in lowering premiums and would empower consumers rather than insurance companies, presidential adviser and author Dick Morris told Newsmax Saturday.
"What he's doing is taking the massive federal subsidy that is embodied in Obamacare, that Obamacare was passed to trigger and redirecting it from then saying he's going to redirect it from the insurance company premiums to the beneficiaries directly," Morris said on Newsmax's "The Count."
This means he'll help Americans set up health savings accounts with tax-free money that they can use to pay for their own healthcare, said Morris, while redirecting premiums to HSAs so they aren't subsidizing insurance companies.
Meanwhile, skyrocketing premiums are being driven by federal mandates enacted through the Affordable Care Act, said Morris.
Americans could afford their insurance premiums, he added, if the government did not "mandate that the insurance companies have to cover all kinds of other stuff, psychological addiction, all of this stuff."
Trump believes competition is the key to reducing costs, said Morris.
"He thinks that the key thing to reducing premiums is competition, letting people shop to various providers and choose the one that they want," Morris said. "And then when the doctor says you need an MRI, they can say, well, I'm not so sure. Let me get a second opinion."
And by making competition viable in the health insurance industry, costs will come down, Morris added.
Morris on Saturday also praised Trump's foreign policy approach in Latin America, saying the president is driving major regional changes by isolating leftist regimes.
The momentum for democracy is also reemerging in Latin America under Trump, he continued.
"After years of paying no real attention to Latin America, the U.S. is now focused on [Nicolas] Maduro and [Gustavo] Petro, his colleague in Colombia, who's even worse," said Morris.
Morris added that U.S. pressure is eroding the regimes' foundations.
"By pressuring them, by cutting off their revenue, by cutting off the subsidies to them, is really weakening those regimes," he said.
"I think you're going to see the kind of revolutionary regime change throughout Latin America that we witnessed in Eastern Europe."
Asked whether the United States would consider a ground operation in Venezuela, Morris said he does not see that happening.
"We'll target the drug labs, the drug infiltration routes ... [Trump] can weaken their hold on power by weakening the drug trade," he said.
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.