THE VILLAGES, Fla. – President Donald Trump chose a Florida retirement community as the setting to outline his vision for Medicare Advantage, a program for the elderly and disabled that would allow private insurers to provide benefits instead of the government.
The president is scheduled to present the "Protecting Medicare from Socialist Destruction" executive order Thursday at The Villages, a mega-retirement community that covers Marion, Lake and Sumter counties, a Republican stronghold that Trump won in 2016.
"Trump and his administration have worked to provide seniors with high-quality, affordable care in the Medicare program and improved options through Medicare Advantage," White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.
On Thursday, Trump will become the second sitting Republican president to visit The Villages. The first was President George W. Bush during his 2004 reelection campaign. Bush had the support of the late Villages developer H. Gary Morse and his family.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis are scheduled to attend the invitation-only event at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center. The event had first been scheduled for August, but Trump's administration postponed it after the massacres in Texas and Ohio.
According to the Trump administration, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will have more plan choices, with about 1,200 more plans operating in 2020 than in 2018, and its monthly plan premium is expected to decrease 14% to $23.00 in 2020 from an average of $26.87 in 2019.