ICYMI:  Building on Our Current System is the Future of Health Care 

 

WASHINGTON – As the 2022 Open Enrollment period approaches, recent data and analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) shows that building on our current system is working to broaden access to affordable high-quality health care coverage. Improving our current system – not creating unaffordable, new government-controlled health insurance systems – should continue to be the priority for state and federal policy makers.   

Recent data and analysis show that:  

• “Enhanced subsidies could shield the vast majority of individual market enrollees from increases, even those with higher incomes.” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 10/17/22) 
• The recent fix for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ‘family glitch’ will allow 1 million Americans to gain access to affordable, high-quality health care coverage. (Axios Vitals, 10/12/22) 
• Approximately three-quarters of all enrollees on the individual health insurance marketplace are subsidized. This is the highest share of individuals with subsidies since 2015 and the first increase since 2019. (Kaiser Family Foundation, 10/17/22) 

As our current system continues to prove its efficacy, unaffordable, new government-controlled proposals like the public option continue to be unaffordable and ineffective. 

• Implementing a national public option could cause premium increases for currently insured Americans, forcing a reduction in coverage options, and reduced access to care for seniors and low-income families. (Congressional Budget Office, 4/07/21)  
• The public option could either increase the federal debt or require higher taxes on American families. (Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D., Tom Church, and Daniel L. Heil, 2/3/21)  

Building on and improving what’s working in health care remains the most effective path forward to expand access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care. Rather than starting from scratch with unaffordable, new government-controlled health insurance systems, policymakers should continue to focus on solutions that build on and improve what’s working in health care. 

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