One part of the Democrats’ massive COVID relief bill, which is likely to pass out of Congress today, is possibly the most important philosophical change in American health care ever. It’s the first actual attempt at near-universal health insurance ever passed into law. While the bill is full of significant changes, the health insurance sections alone are almost a bigger deal than the Affordable Care Act.
The American Rescue Plan contained three major insurance provisions. The first includes more money to entice states to expand Medicaid. In a sane political system, this would result in immediate take-up of the Medicaid expansion across the country, but Republican opposition in the remaining states is not driven by budget concerns but by ideological desire to deny low-income people help. Once this fails, Democrats will need to eventually federalize Medicaid.
Read Full Article »