The Silent Affordability Crisis Facing Sick People May 8, 2019 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman shows that employer coverage for lower wage workers is much worse than ACA marketplace coverage for similar populations. It’s a bigger problem we need to talk about more, he says.
JAMA Forum: Medicare-For-All or Medicare-For-More? May 22, 2019 Perspective In this May 2019 post for The JAMA forum, Larry Levitt examines how the early discussion and positioning among the presidential candidates offers a glimpse into how a debate about Medicare-for-all might play out.
Voters Are Tuning Out the Health Care Debates June 3, 2019 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman reports on new KFF focus groups with voters. They show voters are focused on the problems they have paying for care and navigating the health system, but have yet to tune in on the health proposals being made by candidates and elected officials, and don’t see them as relevant to their problems.
Universal Coverage May Not Mean Everyone Has Health Insurance June 19, 2019 Perspective Universal coverage is a big and important goal. But would absolutely everyone be covered under current proposals? Is it a better rallying cry for Democrats in the primaries or the general election? Drew Altman analyzes these questions in an Axios column.
JAMA Forum: What is Trumpcare? September 25, 2019 Perspective The debate among Democratic presidential candidates about how to reform the health care system largely boils down to whether to build on the Affordable Care Act and create an option for people to enroll in Medicare or create a Medicare for all plan that covers everyone. On the other side…
Health Policy in 2020 Will Be Made in the States January 6, 2020 Perspective With a questionable outlook for 2020 passage of legislation on prescription drug pricing and surprise medical bills, Drew Altman says the real action to watch in health policy is likely to be in the states.
The ACA is Doing Fine Without a Mandate Penalty January 14, 2020 Perspective In an Axios column, Drew Altman explains that the elimination of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate penalty has had little impact on how the ACA’s insurance markets are working, showing that “the marketplaces continue to function, even when ‘severed’ from the mandate penalty,” and undercutting a central argument in the lawsuit seeking to strike down the entire law.
Republican Voters Have Moved On from Hating the ACA February 24, 2020 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes KFF’s tracking poll and shows that the ACA is now yesterday’s issue for Republicans. They have shifted their sights to Medicare-for-all…at least for this election season.
The Affordable Care Act’s Enduring Resilience March 19, 2020 Perspective In this article in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Larry Levitt examines the Affordable Care Act 10 years after it’s enactment. The article notes that the law has taken numerous blows, yet due to its policy design and the political forces it has unleashed, the law has shown remarkable resilience.
JAMA Forum: COVID-19 and Massive Job Losses Will Test the US Health Insurance Safety Net May 28, 2020 Perspective In this May 2020 post for The JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt explores how the massive and rapid job losses of the past few months will test the ACA’s coverage safety net – and how different policies could strengthen or weaken it.