As a friend once told me, “Government is about compromise.” That friend was Tommy Thompson, a four-term governor of Wisconsin who went on to serve in George W. Bush’s cabinet as secretary of health and human services.
What a Bipartisan Approach to U.S. Health Care Could Look Like
Encourage competition, reduce costs, and cover the poorest.
March 30, 2017, Updated April 11, 2017
Summary.
With the failure of the American Health Care Act recently proposed by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, it is clear that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will continue to serve millions of Americans for the foreseeable future. Of course, the ACA (aka Obamacare) remains a flawed law. But rather than allow Obamacare to “implode” or “collapse” as some (e.g., President Trump) suggest it will, a group of Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington should take action and fix the broken elements of the ACA for the good of the millions of Americans who depend on it. It is time for a compromise. An agreement palatable to both sides might include cross-border risk pools to increase competition among insurers, a thoughtful use of tax credits to help provide coverage for the poor, and pay-for-value reimbursement to continue to reduce the cost of medical care.