EDITORIAL: Six ways Trump could score on health care
That should have been enough. Contrary to the president's Twitter feed, the Affordable Care Act isn't about to "explode." More than 20 million previously uninsured Americans now have health insurance, including more than 5 million in
The optional
And while premiums have risen, tax credits have covered most of the increase for most exchange policy holders.
No matter. "The
"I think we're closer today to repealing Obamacare than we ever were before," House Majority
Clearly, they haven't gotten the memo from voters. Most Americans get coverage through their employers, but no one wants a return to the pre-Obamacare days. No one wants to be denied coverage due to some pre-existing condition. No one wants a lost job to mean a potential a loss of health care, or a rip-off by some fly-by-night insurer.
The far smarter route for Trump and
Don't subvert the individual mandate. The Affordable Care Act hinges on a law requiring everyone to buy health insurance, so that premiums from healthy people mitigate the costs of payouts for the sick.
After the failed repeal effort, Health & Human Services Secretary
Without enforcement, more healthy people will drop out of the private market and premiums will skyrocket. Why create such hardship?
Ante up for "cost sharing" subsidies. People who don't qualify for
In 2014,
Without that assistance, premiums will soar; with it, private exchanges may finally work as intended. A status update on the lawsuit is due in late May.
"What the Trump administration does in the next 60 days will determine whether markets will be stable and consumer friendly or potentially unstable and wildly expensive," he told a Bee editorial board member.
Stop trying to constrict open enrollment. Among the various Trump initiatives to cripple the Affordable Care Act is the administration's effort to shorten open enrollment on the exchanges. We get it; conservatives aren't supposed to encourage participation in government programs.
But the Affordable Care Act exchanges are market-based;
Stop destabilizing the insurance market. In a letter to Trump last week, California Insurance Commissioner
One way or the other,
Learn from the states. A state-based reinsurance program in
In
Free the
Yes, the expansion spends tax money. But it also lowers premiums and medical bills, which also come out of American pockets. Republican leaders should let state lawmakers get past the dogma and remember another old sports adage: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
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