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For some time, Democratic next-gen healthcare reform proposals have fallen on a spectrum that I've thought as anchored by three main proposal types. Here they are, in ascending order of cost and degree of system change:
For some time, Democratic next-gen healthcare reform proposals have fallen on a spectrum that I've thought as anchored by three main proposal types. Here they are, in ascending order of cost and degree of system change:
- ACA 2.0 - Improve the ACA mainly by a) bulking up the subsidies and extending them farther up the income scale, and/or b) introducing a national public option within the ACA marketplace framework. Chief exemplars: Elizabeth Warren's ACA 2.0 bill; Senators Bennet and Kaine's Medicare-X.
- Medicare for all who want it: Introduce a strong public option that anyone can buy into on an income-adjusted basis, even if they have access to other affordable insurance, e.g., insurance offered by an employer. Chief current exemplars: The Center for American Progress's Medicare Extra, which is the basis of Reps. DeLauro and Schakowsky's Medicare for America bill.
- Medicare for All (that covers everything for everyone at no cost to anyone except via taxes). Private insurance essentially ends. Chief exemplars: - Bernie Sander's Medicare for All bill, and Rep. Jayapal's House variant.
