1600 Daily The White House • June 17, 2019 11 million Americans Are About to Get More Freedom in Their Healthcare

The White House • June 17, 2019 11 million Americans are about to get more freedom in their healthcare  There are two big ways Washington can affect healthcare for Americans. The first is by working to expand the range of affordable, high-quality options available in every community. The second is by purposefully eliminating these options in order to drive more people toward centralized, government-run healthcare schemes. Here’s an example: Health Reimbursement Arrangements, or HRAs, allow workers to shop for a health insurance plan that’s right for them and their families. The previous administration imposed crushing fines and penalties on HRAs to prevent employees from selecting the plan of their choice. “It was impossible,” President Trump said.    HHS Secretary Azar: President Trump takes more major action on healthcare   On Friday, President Trump announced that HRAs will now receive the same tax treatment as other employer-provided health plans. The move is crucial for America’s small businesses: It’s estimated that 90 percent of the businesses that will take advantage of HRAs have fewer than 20 employees. “The Obama administration had made it illegal for our business to help employees with their health insurance costs,” Maryland small business owner Tom Kunkel said at the White House on Friday. “After the Obama ruling we had to stop all reimbursements . . . which caused a great bit of hardship for our employees.” Now, his business and others can help defray healthcare costs for employees again. The Trump Administration expects that 800,000 employers will offer these new HRAs to more than 11 million employees and family members once employers fully adjust to the rule. As a result, some 800,000 Americans who would otherwise be uninsured are projected to gain coverage. President Trump takes another step toward improving American health insurance. Watch: “We have to reject” the socialist model of healthcare, the President says In photos: Vice President Pence visits Yellowstone  Last week, Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Yellowstone National Park in Montana, where he addressed the aging infrastructure of America’s parks. “I wanted to make sure that all of you who make Yellowstone National Park work every day know that, in this administration, in this White House, you have a President who is committed to conservation,” the Vice President said with Old Faithful in the background. In 1872, Yellowstone was established as America’s first national park. In doing so, President Ulysses Grant said that the land should be set apart “for the benefit and [the] enjoyment of the people.” Today, more than 4 million people visit Yellowstone each year. To protect this legacy for future generations, President Trump has marked nearly $3 billion of his 2020 budget for our National Park Service. The Administration is also introducing an innovative approach to conservation called the Public Lands Infrastructure Fund, under which half of all revenues from leases on public lands will go directly to improving the infrastructure needs of our parks. “To every American that might be looking on from afar, we simply say: America has the best national parks in the world,” the Vice President said. In photos: Vice President Pence visits Yellowstone  Photo of the Day Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen Vice President Mike Pence and Mrs. Karen Pence visit Yellowstone National Park and help replace the boardwalk at Old Faithful | June 13, 2019 The White House · 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW · Washington, DC 20500 · USA · 202-456-1111

West Wing Reads - Bahrain Workshop on Palestinian Economy is the Opportunity of a Generation

Bahrain Workshop on Palestinian Economy is the Opportunity of a Generation “This is exciting -- an opportunity of a generation. We are grateful to the Kingdom of Bahrain for extending the invitation to [the Trump Administration] to host the June 25 and 26 workshop with them for the benefit of Palestinians and others in the region, offering us a unique opportunity to communicate our economic vision,” White House Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt writes in CNN. “This workshop will facilitate discussions on an ambitious, achievable vision and framework for a prosperous future for Palestinians . . . President Trump is informed by previous attempts at peace but not encumbered by them. He is seeking a realistic resolution and a brighter future for all those burdened with this conflict.” Click here to read more. “The Trump administration is doing just about everything it can to slow the flood of undocumented Mexicans and Central Americans coming to the U.S. and claiming asylum. But alleviating our growing border crisis is impossible unless Congress changes our immigration laws,” the Washington Examiner editorial board writes. “It is certainly true that most Democrats are at best muddled on the immigration question and at worst fully in favor of opening the southern border to anyone who wants to come into the country. But the party of the Left cannot deny that we have a crisis at the southern border.” “Some Border Patrol agents in Texas are concerned about exposure to Ebola by a migrant fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the United States. But more of them are worried about other illnesses frequently popping up among detainees at stations across the southern border,” Anna Giaritelli reports for the Washington Examiner. “Border Patrol’s holding facilities in the Del Rio and El Paso sectors, or regions, are inundated with sick detainees, as well as sick agents.” “U.S. factory production bounced back in May after a four-month slump while the growth of industrial output in China fell to its slowest pace since 2002,” John Carney reports for Breitbart. “U.S. tariffs are taking a toll on the world’s second-largest economy. The U.S. factory data is an important sign that the U.S. manufacturing sector is more resilient to trade stress than many economists had forecast.” “Now [President Trump] is the namesake of a tiny Israeli settlement in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights,” Ilan Ben Zion writes in The Associated Press. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet convened in this hamlet Sunday to inaugurate a new settlement named after President Donald Trump in a gesture of appreciation for the U.S. leader’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.”

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 17, 2019 President Donald J. Trump Approves Disaster Declaration for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska   Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that a major disaster exists for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and ordered Federal aid to supplement the Tribe’s efforts in the areas affected by severe storms and flooding from March 13 to April 1, 2019. Federal funding is available to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Pete Gaynor, Acting Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Constance C. Johnson-Cage as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the Tribe and warranted by the results of further damage assessments. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.