ACA Subsidies Could Expand, but Public Option Is Unlikely

With the new Congress largely in place, and the new presidential administration set to take power on Jan. 20, health care insiders are beginning to make sense of what legislation and rulemaking the Biden administration and Democrats intend to develop that could affect health insurers. Experts say that large, structural changes like a public option are unlikely, given Democrats’ narrow Senate majority, but smaller reforms including expanded subsidies in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges are up for discussion, along with pandemic-related coverage protections.

The Biden transition team included increased ACA subsidies and temporary COBRA subsidies for laid-off workers as part of the pandemic relief package that President-elect Joe Biden announced on Jan. 14, as AIS Health went to press. But that policy does face some hurdles.

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Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson

Peter has worked as a journalist since 2011 and has covered health care since 2020. At AIS Health, Peter covers trends in finance, business and policy that affect the health insurance and pharma sectors. For Health Plan Weekly, he covers all aspects of the U.S. health insurance sector, including employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces. In Radar on Drug Benefits, Peter covers the operations of (and conflicts between) pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on pricing dynamics and market access. Before joining AIS Health, Peter covered transportation, public safety and local government for various outlets in Seattle, his hometown and current place of residence. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College.

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