Good suggestions abound for fixing the Affordable Care Act, rather than letting it implode as President Trump wishes. Let’s not hurt millions of Americans. Congress and the Trump administration could enforce the requirement that most people have health insurance. Those with cars are required to have driver’s insurance. This is no different; everyone needs health care at some point.
Trump and HHS Secretary Tom Price should encourage healthy people to enroll. They do the opposite. Trump and/or Congress could guarantee continued funding to reimburse insurance for waiving co-payments and deductibles for poor customers, stabilizing the market. Trump threatens to cut off such funding.
Congress could use reinsurance, in which the government helps insurers pay for the sickest, most expensive citizens. Congress could try to lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies and punishing those that price gouge.
The FDA could more quickly get generic drugs to market. We could extend subsidies for private coverage to very low-income people. Utah’s legislators should now accept Medicaid expansion. Its senators should try to improve the ACA, working in a bipartisan manner, rather than incessantly bash it.
We can get this done.
Howard Kaplan
Cottonwood Heights