Overturning Obamacare would have huge impacts on millions of Americans:
- As many as 133 million Americans — roughly half the U.S. population — with preexisting conditions could find it harder, if not impossible, to find affordable health insurance. That figure does not include Americans infected with COVID-19.
- About 165 million who require expensive treatments — for cancer and other conditions — would no longer be protected from huge costs for care by federal caps on out-of-pocket expenditures the Affordable Care Act requires.
- An estimated 21 million who now buy insurance through the Obamacare Marketplaces could lose their coverage.
- Another 12 million on Medicaid could find themselves without insurance.
- At least 2 million young adults ages 26 and under, now on their parents’ health policies, could be kicked off.
- Millions of people who use Medicare could face higher costs.
- Federal subsidies for lower-income Americans to buy policies would disappear.
Throughout the campaign, Biden repeatedly stressed the need to preserve the law’s provision barring insurance companies from refusing coverage for Americans with preexisting conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. It also outlaws charging higher premiums on the basis of health status, age, or gender.
Biden has also pledged to bolster the law as president.
He has proposed a variety of add-ons to the Affordable Care Act he says will “insure more than an estimated 97% of Americans,” according to the Biden campaign site.
Biden’s proposals include offering larger federal subsidies to help low- and middle-income Americans pay for policies purchased through Obamacare insurance Marketplaces.
The boldest of Biden’s proposals is the creation of a “public option” for insurance — a Medicare-like program that small businesses and individuals could choose if they do not have coverage, cannot afford it, or don’t like their employer-based coverage.
It would also automatically enroll millions of uninsured Americans living in the 14 states that have not expanded Medicaid, which covers low-income people.
But such a plan would require congressional approval — including a “super majority” of 60 Senate votes to block a likely GOP filibuster. That will be a significant challenge Biden will have to overcome, with Congress so evenly divided.
The White House would also have to defeat heavy lobbying from some of the most influential industry interest groups in Washington, Corlette says.
“I’m not even confident they would get all the Democrat votes,” she says.
“So, it’s a going to be an uphill battle to get a public option passed.”
Taken together, Biden’s plans for expanding Obamacare are projected to cost $750 billion over 10 years. He has said much of that financing would come from increasing taxes on the wealthy.
That means it would likely require congressional approval, which Antos suggests is unlikely given the polarization on Capitol Hill.
Medicare, Medicaid, and drug costs
Biden has called for a host of reforms targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and rising drug costs.
On Medicare, which primarily covers seniors 65 and older, Biden has proposed lowering the eligibility age from 65 to 60. That could extend Medicare to up to 20 million more Americans.
On Medicaid, the health care safety net for low-income and disabled Americans, the president-elect supports increased federal funding to states during the current economic crisis, and potentially beyond.
Medicare is likely to become a key focus of the new administration, in light of the pressures the pandemic is placing on Medicare funding.
In April, Medicare’s trustees said that the Part A trust fund for the program, which pays for hospital and inpatient care, could start to run dry in 2026.
But those projections did not include the impact of COVID-19. Some economists have since projected that Medicare Part A could become insolvent as early as 2022.
Medicare Part B, which pays for doctor and outpatient costs, is funded by general tax funding and beneficiary insurance premiums, so it is not in danger of drying up.
Adding to those pressures is an executive order Trump signed in August temporarily deferring payroll taxes, a primary funding vehicle for Medicare and Social Security.
Under these taxes, employees pay 6.2% of their earnings (on annual income up to $137,700) toward Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare taxes each pay period. Employers pay the same rate per paycheck, adding up to a combined 12.4% Social Security tax and 2.9% Medicare tax.
Biden has said he would reverse the tax cut when he takes office.
But to get a handle on Medicare and Medicaid funding issues, he is likely to need congressional support. Corlette and other experts say that could be a challenge while the nation remains in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to his Medicare and Medicaid reforms, Biden has proposed several plans to lower drug prices, a subset of rising health care and insurance costs.
U.S. spending on prescription drugs has increased nearly 42% over the past decade — from $253.1 billion in 2010 to $358.7 billion in 2020 (projected) — according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
In 2020, retail prices for 460 commonly prescribed drugs have spiked an average of 5.2%, according to new analysis by 3 Axis Advisors, a health research firm.
That’s more than double the projected rate of inflation.
To control drug costs, Biden supports legislation approved by the Democratic-led House of Representatives last year that would empower Medicare to negotiate drug prices with drug companies, as private insurers do.
Federal law now bars Medicare from negotiating prices on behalf of the 67.7 million Americans who use it. Drug companies and many GOP leaders argue that the current law is necessary to allow them to spend more on research and development of new medications.
In addition, Biden supports the idea of lifting bans on importing drugs from foreign countries with lower costs.
He also backs creating an independent review board to set price caps for new medications with no competitors; making high-quality generics more available; ending tax breaks for drug company advertising; and limiting their leeway in raising prices.
All of these proposals would likely require congressional approval and could face legal challenges in the courts.
This article first appeared on WebMD.com.
