Given that many Republicans have expressed their displeasure with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), what might they do instead if they were to take control of the White House and both branches of Congress in 2017? Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health health policy experts John McDonough and Max Fletcher explored the possibilities in a September 18, 2015 Health Affairs blog.
McDonough, professor of the practice of public health, and Fletcher, former policy analyst with the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace and a master’s candidate at Harvard Chan School, identified eight potential plans that have been put forward—some from Congressional Republicans and some from conservative think tanks—and created charts comparing the proposals according to key policies. Based on the plans, McDonough and Fletcher think that a Republican-controlled government would seek full or nearly full ACA repeal and attempt to fashion new policies. Many ACA provisions that have become established parts of America’s health system—such as premium and cost-sharing subsidies, coverage for young adults up to age 26, elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions, insurance exchanges, and Medicaid expansion—would likely be repealed.
Overall, according to McDonough and Fletcher, most of the Republican alternatives are “far less than comprehensive, and leave many more issues unanswered than answered.” They added, “Public conversation needs to better educate Americans about the many significant policy impacts that would be wrought by repeal of the ACA.”
Read the Health Affairs blog by John McDonough and Max Fletcher: What Would Republicans Do Instead Of The Affordable Care Act?