How the Elections Could Put the Brakes on Anti-ACA Plans November 10, 2017 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman examines the role of health care in Virginia’s elections and the referendum on Medicaid expansion in Maine. His assessment: the elections and the referendum will have a bigger impact on upcoming policy debates about cutting Medicaid to pay for tax cuts, and state interest in Medicaid expansion, than on upcoming elections.
One Big Thing People Don’t Know About Single Payer November 2, 2017 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman discusses a challenge for single payer which has not received much attention – a large share of the American people do not think they would have to change their current health insurance arrangements if there were a Medicare-for-all style single payer plan.
Keeping the Alexander-Murray Health Care Bill in Context October 23, 2017 Perspective This Drew Altman Axios column describes the scale of the problems in the ACA marketplaces and the public’s confusion about whether they are impacted. He says that the news media, experts and policy makers can do more to put the marketplace problems and fixes in context as debate evolves.
The Medical Bill Score: How the Public Judges Health Care October 3, 2017 Perspective In an Axios column, Drew Altman discusses how the public “scores” major health proposals like Graham-Cassidy or single payer, and proposes a “Medical Bills Score” for health.
How Single Payer Helps Republicans Change the Subject September 14, 2017 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes the political pros and cons of single payer for Democrats and whether it will shift the focus from the Republicans’ failed effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act to the Democrats new sweeping plan.
Health Affairs Blog: Can States Substantially Reduce Medicaid Spending Through Delivery System And Financing Reform? September 7, 2017 Perspective In a Health Affairs blog post, Joshua M. Wiener and Melissa Romaire of RTI International and MaryBeth Musumeci of the Kaiser Family Foundation examine whether states could successfully cope with substantial reductions in federal Medicaid funding under a per capita cap or block grant system by improving efficiency in the…
How to Keep ACA Stabilization Narrow August 31, 2017 Perspective In this column for Axios, Drew Altman discusses the main challenges for members and media coverage as members take up the issue of stabilization of the Affordable Care Act.
The ACA Stability “Crisis” In Perspective August 10, 2017 Perspective In this column for Axios, Drew Altman presents new data analysis showing how many people are impacted by premium increases in the non-group market, and discusses the implications.
JAMA Forum: Has Obamacare Become Trumpcare? August 8, 2017 Perspective With the effort to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act seemingly on hold or even dead, Larry Levitt discusses what the Trump administration could do to make the ACA successful – including providing clarity around individual mandate enforcement and cost-sharing reduction payments; maintaining outreach and consumer assistance; and encouraging insurers to participate in the individual insurance marketplaces. The post is now available at The JAMA Forum.
It’s Not Obamacare Anymore. It’s Our National Health-Care System. July 29, 2017 Perspective In this Washington Post op-ed, Drew Altman and Larry Levitt discuss why the latest Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act failed and what it will take for congress and the administration to address the next challenge, providing long-term stability to the ACA marketplaces.