The Kaiser Family Foundation is reporting on the loss of ACA enhanced subsidies and the problems many families face keeping coverage. The article, As Insurance Prices Rise, Families Puzzle Over Options is a series of anecdotes about families who face unaffordable “Affordable Care Act” health plans. Something that is missing in the debate is why ACA plans are so unaffordable. Hint: it is due to all the mandated benefits and costly insurance regulations.
Author: Devon Herrick
Congress Should Not Force Medicare to Reimburse New Technology without Evidence of Value
For the past several years Congress has been debating a version of Ensuring Patient Access to Critical Breakthrough Products Act. The goal is to force Medicare to reimburse new medical device products that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims are breakthrough devices, without letting Medicare determine whether these new devices have any value.
Should Medical Care Be a Consumer Good?
Republicans wisely want to inject more consumerism into the medical marketplace. Health savings accounts, high-deductible health plans, direct primary care, price transparency are all attempts to encourage patients to act more like consumers. Democrats, by contrast, seemingly want to remove every shred of consumer sovereignty from health care. Not to cast aspersions, but it is true. Obamacare is but one example.
White House Should Expedite Plans to Boost Access to OTC Drugs
President Trump released The-Great-Healthcare-Plan in January 2026. The plan was summarized on one page and illustrated the White House’s plans to restrain medical spending and increase access to care. Among the topics were lower drug prices, lower insurance premiums, holding big insurance companies accountable and maximizing price transparency. One subtopic stood out, and it is probably the one policy wonks will pay the least attention to. Yet it arguably has the most power to help achieve Trump’s goals of boosting access to care while holding costs down.