The Biden-Harris Healthcare Plan
What is the incoming Biden Administration’s approach to advancing healthcare?
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The issue of health care is sure to come up in the next Administration and Congress, given the economic fallout from COVID, the raging pandemic itself and the challenges to the Affordable Care Act by the previous Administration.
So, what does President-Elect Joe Biden want to do? In short, he wants to build upon, not dismantle the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed while he and President Obama were in the White House. According to his transition website, he has several pillars to his approach.
Access to healthcare for every American
Under Joe Biden’s plan a public option for health insurance would be made available for Americans to buy…whether they have coverage through their employer, purchase their own insurance or do not have insurance at all—a public health insurance option would be made available to them. The public option would be similar to Medicare and it would allow the federal government to negotiate on behalf of its members to reduce costs and encourage better coordination among a patient’s doctors and caregivers.
Biden intends to expand upon Obama Care or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
It would also cover primary and general care without a copay from patients.
Joe Biden’s plan would make it so that families would not have to spend more than 8.5% of their income on health insurance, if they buy it from a Health Insurance Marketplace (as set up under the Affordable Care Act). It would also increase the size of the tax credits offered by basing those credits on a more expensive gold plan. The plan would also eliminate the 400% of Federal Poverty Level upper boundary that qualifies an individual to receive tax credits—so families making more than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level can still get tax credits to help them afford health insurance.
The plan would also offer “premium-free access” to the public health insurance option (noted above) for those individual’s whose states have opted not to expand Medicaid.
Less Complexity and Drug Pricing
During this pandemic, people’s lives are at stake, equity in healthcare is a life or death issue.
Biden’s plan would eliminate the existing legislation that bars the government from negotiating with drug companies for lower prices for Medicare patients. It would also use antitrust authority to address consolidation of market influence by companies in the health care system.
The plan would also limit brand and generic drug price increases to the “general rate of inflation.”
Biden would also allow U. S. consumers to purchase drugs from other countries.
In addition, drug companies who advertise, and write off those advertising expenses on their taxes, will no longer be able to do so.
Health Care As a Right, Not A Privilege
The Hyde Amendment is a policy (not a permanent law) that’s attached to the appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services that forbids federal money from being used to pay for abortions, unless the abortion is sought due to rape or incest or in the case of the woman’s life being in danger, as a result of her pregnancy. This policy, which is renewed every year by Congress severely limits access to abortions in many instances, where the federal government is involved (i.e., Medicaid, etc.). Joe Biden has said he is in favor of repealing this policy, although he supported it in the past for different reasons.
Biden would also restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood by reversing a Trump Administration rule that prevents Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations from getting Title X (federal grant, family planning) funds, among other actions he plans to take.
Biden would also expand investments in community health centers and expand access to mental health.
How will he pay for this?
Biden’s plan calls for the rolling back of the capital gains tax cut and dividend exclusion in the tax code, which apparently amounted to $127 billion in 2019, and he would also restore the top tax rate of 39.6% in the tax code, close loopholes in the avoidance of capital gains taxes altogether and ensure those making over $1 million a year will pay the top capital gains rate.
© Copyright 2020 Danita Smith, Red and Black Ink, LLC
References:
Goldstein, Amy and Werner, Erica. Biden presses to expand health insurance on uncertain terrain.” The Washington Post. November 10, 2020. Accessed November 16, 2020.
“Health Care”. Biden-Harris. Accessed November 17, 2020. JoeBiden.com
“Health Care: Communities of Color”. Biden-Harris. Accessed November 17, 2020. JoeBiden.com