Brown, Whitehouse Press Biden Administration to Add Public Option to ACA 

Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., recently sent a letter to the Biden administration urging that a publicly administered health insurance option be added to the Affordable Care Act’s individual marketplaces in the president’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal. 

The letter expresses that a public option would strengthen the ACA by expanding coverage and increasing competition between plans, all without compromising access to services to drive down costs of private and public insurance coverage. 

The letter claims a public option would particularly benefit areas where there are limited insurers, such as in rural counties. 

The traditional Medicare model has suggested that a public health insurance option could be created that would similarly establish formulas that specify what the federal government would pay for each medical service, with adjustments for certain provider characteristics. 

Under the current Medicare program, providers are paid less than commercial insurance plans, which can allow for lower premiums and less enrollee cost-sharing. 

A public option that follows the same model might allow a reduction in consumer costs and the federal government’s cost of subsidizing premiums and cost-sharing, according to a report from the Brookings Institution. 

Under the ACA, still about 3.1 million Americans remain uninsured, with coverage disparities seen particularly among Hispanic, Black, Asian, American Indian and Alaska Native communities. 

Additionally, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll shows that 46% of insured adults in the U.S. had difficulty paying out-of-pocket costs and 27% found their deductibles were not affordable. 

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