Biden's health care plan

Greenbeard · Aug 20, 2020

Some handy cliff notes on Biden's health care plan from HMA this week. The highlights:

More competition via a public option:

Biden hopes to insure approximately 97 percent of Americans by creating a public health insurance option like Medicare. The public option, referred to as the Biden Plan, would negotiate lower prices from hospitals and providers to reduce costs for patients. There would be no co-payments for primary care. It would be available for purchase through the individual health insurance marketplace. In non-expansion states, the 4.9 million individuals who would have gained Medicaid through expansion, would be offered premium-free access to the public option.

More generous premium subsidies to increase affordability:

The Biden Plan would increase tax credits to purchase coverage through the individual marketplaces by calculating them based on the cost of a gold plan, rather than a silver plan. The cost of coverage for everyone would be limited to 8.5 percent of income, compared to the current 9.86 percent for low income families. The income cap for tax credits would also be eliminated, so families making more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level would be eligible for tax credits. Families that receive insurance from their employers, would be able to switch to a plan on the individual marketplace.

Better functioning health care provider markets:

In addition to increasing tax credits and removing the income cap to make healthcare more affordable, the Biden Plan would stop “surprise billing” by barring health care providers from charging patients out-of-network rates when the patient does not have control over which provider they see in an in-network hospital. Biden would also use existing antitrust authority to address the lack of competition in the market to lower prices and increase wages for low-wage health care workers such as home care workers.

Checks on pharma's pricing power:

The Biden Plan would repeal the exception that allows drug manufacturers to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices and would limit launch prices for drugs that face no competition through external reference pricing or by an evaluation by independent board members for Medicare and public option plans. All brand, biotech, and generic drugs will be prohibited from increasing their prices more than the general inflation rate.

All-in-all, a pretty solid and straightforward Dem approach to protecting and building on the Affordable Care Act, doubling down on affordability and increasing coverage. Very much in line with the health care agenda the House Dems have been pushing in recent years.

And a sharp contrast with Trump's non-agenda on health care, which seems to be limited largely to throwing out the ACA and bringing back pre-existing conditions.

Drawdown · Aug 20, 2020

Biden's plan is "Make middle class people pay more for marketplace insurance so deadbeats get more free stuff."

No.

swing_voter · Aug 20, 2020

If we as Americans went out tomorrow and formed a "Patient's Union".

The 300 million of us could make all kinds of demands on the medical profession. And we'd get a lot of what we asked for. Insurances companies do this now but on a smaller scale.

Biden's plan seems to want to do this too. Form a huge group of people who can ask the medical profession for things like lower prices. And we'd have some clout because of our numbers.

I like it.

d0gbreath · Aug 20, 2020

At least he has a plan. Aren't those two weeks up yet?

PoS · Aug 20, 2020

Drawdown said:
Biden's plan is "Make middle class people pay more for marketplace insurance so deadbeats get more free stuff."

No.

Pretty much. Just more tax and spend Dem BS to make everyone poor.

apdst · Aug 20, 2020

Wealth redistribution, but they say they aren't communists.

Drawdown · Aug 20, 2020

PoS said:
Pretty much. Just more tax and spend Dem BS to make everyone poor.

I stand by my position. Marketplaces, especially that one, are like a water bed. Pressing down in one place causes a bulge in another. In this case, that water is prices.

Greenbeard · Aug 20, 2020

Drawdown said:
Biden's plan is "Make middle class people pay more for marketplace insurance so deadbeats get more free stuff."

No.

No, the middle class pays less. They get greater access to financial assistance that lowers their contribution to premiums. And the underlying premiums themselves are lowered by a combination of 1) greater insurer competition in the marketplaces, 2) tackling underlying cost drivers like provider market dysfunction and prescription drug prices, and 3) undoing the unsubsidized premium hikes Trump triggered when he screwed up the financing of the marketplaces.

Redwing · Aug 20, 2020

Drawdown said:
Biden's plan is "Make middle class people pay more for marketplace insurance so deadbeats get more free stuff."

No.

That is exactly what is going on. Next, it will be free college, loan forgiveness, more low cost housing, and the 16 year old vote.

Moot · Aug 20, 2020

I really like the idea of doing away with employer provided health insurance. I think it would give people a lot more freedom and job opportunities because they wouldn't have to stay at a job they didn't like just because of the health insurance.

Moot · Aug 20, 2020

Redwing said:
That is exactly what is going on. Next, it will be free college, loan forgiveness, more low cost housing, and the 16 year old vote.

I didn't always think free college was a good idea...but now I think we need it to level the playing field and reduce the ever widening wealth gap.

So what's wrong with "more low cost housing?"

ludin · Aug 20, 2020

Greenbeard said:
Some handy cliff notes on Biden's health care plan from HMA this week. The highlights:

More competition via a public option:

More generous premium subsidies to increase affordability:

Better functioning health care provider markets:

Checks on pharma's pricing power:

All-in-all, a pretty solid and straightforward Dem approach to protecting and building on the Affordable Care Act, doubling down on affordability and increasing coverage. Very much in line with the health care agenda the House Dems have been pushing in recent years.

And a sharp contrast with Trump's non-agenda on health care, which seems to be limited largely to throwing out the ACA and bringing back pre-existing conditions.

Yet once again he has no way to pay for it and all of this free stuff is going to cost me an arm and a leg and i get 0 advantage out of it.
I really wish democrats would spend their own money instead of mine.

I am frankly sick of it.

ludin · Aug 20, 2020

Drawdown said:
Biden's plan is "Make middle class people pay more for marketplace insurance so deadbeats get more free stuff."

No.

Pretty much every democrat plan is "Make working people pay for **** they can't use."
that has always been their entire agenda.

Moot · Aug 20, 2020

ludin said:
Yet once again he has no way to pay for it and all of this free stuff is going to cost me an arm and a leg and i get 0 advantage out of it.
I really wish democrats would spend their own money instead of mine.

I am frankly sick of it.

I suspect Biden intends to raise taxes on the top 1% and stop the looting in the treasury dept, reduce military funding and perhaps force colleges to raise their acceptance rates or lose their tax status. And I doubt it will cost you a dime.

ludin · Aug 20, 2020

Moot said:
I suspect Biden intends to raise taxes on the top 1% and stop the looting in the treasury dept, reduce military funding and perhaps force colleges to raise their acceptance rates or lose their tax status. And I doubt it will cost you a dime.

famous last words that have never been true.
I thought you leftist hated lies?

CimpleMan · Aug 20, 2020

Greenbeard said:
Some handy cliff notes on Biden's health care plan from HMA this week. The highlights:

More competition via a public option:

More generous premium subsidies to increase affordability:

Better functioning health care provider markets:

Checks on pharma's pricing power:

All-in-all, a pretty solid and straightforward Dem approach to protecting and building on the Affordable Care Act, doubling down on affordability and increasing coverage. Very much in line with the health care agenda the House Dems have been pushing in recent years.

And a sharp contrast with Trump's non-agenda on health care, which seems to be limited largely to throwing out the ACA and bringing back pre-existing conditions.

Honest question, do we know the 3% who won't be covered?

Moot · Aug 20, 2020

ludin said:
famous last words that have never been true.
I thought you leftist hated lies?

We do...especially yours. :roll:

Greenbeard · Aug 20, 2020

Moot said:
I suspect Biden intends to raise taxes on the top 1% and stop the looting in the treasury dept, reduce military funding and perhaps force colleges to raise their acceptance rates or lose their tax status. And I doubt it will cost you a dime.

Worth remembering that ten years ago the net costs of the Affordable Care Act were projected based on assumptions on how much the new spending would cost, how much the savings (primarily in Medicare) would be, and what revenue the new taxes in it would bring in. Based on that, the ACA was projected at that time to be a net reducer of the deficit.

Ten years later we know that the costs of the ACA came in well below expectations and the savings came in well above expectations.

For example, the crafters of the ACA assumed hundreds of billions of dollars in savings in Medicare relative to the pre-ACA baseline. As it turns out, Medicare spending at the end of the ten-year budget window last year was more than ten percent below those projections that had already factored in the savings. You can see that across the board we're spending less on every aspect of health care than what people were promising a decade ago.

2019 Annual Health Expenditures By Payer: 2019 Projections Compared To 2010 Pre-And Post-ACA Projections

So even before you start thinking about new revenues, it's remembering that there's a lot of room for additional spending even within the financial envelop of the original law. Had they known ten years ago how much health care cost growth would slow down after the ACA passed, they would've been more generous in its design from the start.

mike2810 · Aug 20, 2020

PoS said:
Pretty much. Just more tax and spend Dem BS to make everyone poor.

You do realize Trump signed the spending Bills since elected. None of them are close to being balanced or starting to reduce the debt. One could say Trump is as much at fault as Congress for the spending.

Balanced budget and debt reduction was something Trump ran on in 2016. I see no progress on this the last 3+ years.

Moot · Aug 20, 2020

Greenbeard said:
Worth remembering that ten years ago the net costs of the Affordable Care Act were projected based on assumptions on how much the new spending would cost, how much the savings (primarily in Medicare) would be, and what revenue the new taxes in it would bring in. Based on that, the ACA was projected at that time to be a net reducer of the deficit.

Ten years later we know that the costs of the ACA came in well below expectations and the savings came in well above expectations.

For example, the crafters of the ACA assumed hundreds of billions of dollars in savings in Medicare relative to the pre-ACA baseline. As it turns out, Medicare spending at the end of the ten-year budget window last year was more than ten percent below those projections that had already factored in the savings. You can see that across the board we're spending less on every aspect of health care than what people were promising a decade ago.

2019 Annual Health Expenditures By Payer: 2019 Projections Compared To 2010 Pre-And Post-ACA Projections

So even before you start thinking about new revenues, it's remembering that there's a lot of room for additional spending even within the financial envelop of the original law. Had they known ten years ago how much health care cost growth would slow down after the ACA passed, they would've been more generous in its design from the start.

I knew it was designed it to reduce the deficit...but I had no idea the savings went beyond their projections and expectations. Thanks for posting that.

Greenbeard · Aug 20, 2020

Moot said:
I knew it was designed it to reduce the deficit...but I had no idea the savings went beyond their projections and expectations. Thanks for posting that.

Even the rosiest, Obamacare-booster projections from a decade ago were far too pessimistic, given the actual reality of what happened to health costs/spending after the ACA passed.

See this thread: Good guesses, but wrong

Greenbeard · Aug 20, 2020

CimpleMan said:
Honest question, do we know the 3% who won't be covered?

Probably a mix of people if Massachusetts' experience with 97% coverage is any indicator.

rickc · Aug 20, 2020

Drawdown said:
Biden's plan is "Make middle class people pay more for marketplace insurance so deadbeats get more free stuff."

No.

Do you really believe that?

distraff · Aug 20, 2020

Drawdown said:
Biden's plan is "Make middle class people pay more for marketplace insurance so deadbeats get more free stuff."

No.

Ever heard of Medicaid? Deadbeats already get healthcare. Biden's plan is to help the middle class and lower-income workers.

ludin · Aug 21, 2020

Moot said:
We do...especially yours. :roll:

I haven't lied. but you lack of a rebuttal is just that dismissed.

Biden's health care plan

Greenbeard

Drawdown

swing_voter

d0gbreath

Yellow Dog Democrat

PoS

Minister of Love

apdst

Drawdown

Greenbeard

Redwing

Moot

Moot

ludin

ludin

Moot

ludin

CimpleMan

Watching the Wheels

Moot

Greenbeard

mike2810

Moot

Greenbeard

Greenbeard

rickc

distraff

ludin

Biden's health care plan

Yellow Dog Democrat

Minister of Love

Watching the Wheels

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