President Joe Biden announced steps his administration is taking to target so-called junk insurance plans and surprise medical bills as he made lowering health-care costs the latest focus of his “Bidenomics” push.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden announced steps his administration is taking to target so-called junk insurance plans and surprise medical bills as he made lowering health-care costs the latest focus of his “Bidenomics” push.
“In America, it sounds corny, but fairness is something we kind of expect,”Biden said Friday at a White House event detailing his latest effort to rein in the high prices for consumers that have been a persistent political liability. “I don’t know anybody who likes being abused, having to get played for a sucker, taken advantage of.”
The administration proposed rules that would close loopholes on insurance plans that often provide reduced coverage, including undoing Trump administration rules on short-term policies. Those plans provide cheaper alternatives, but critics say they leave consumers without comprehensive coverage and at risk for high bills in a medical emergency. The administration is also releasing guidance intended to prevent providers from evading billing regulations by contracting with hospitals defined as out-of-network.
“On my watch, health care is not a privilege in this country. Should be a right,” Biden said, adding that when he ran for the White House, he vowed to undo Republican “trickle-down economics” and casting Friday’s measures as delivering on that promise.
“Trickle-down economics represented the moment we walked away from how this country was built in the first place. Bidenomics is just the other way around. Restoring the American dream,” Biden said, using a term the White House has embraced to showcase his economic agenda and sell it to skeptical voters in his reelection campaign.
Biden has increasingly focused on certain fees and costs to highlight his efforts to control the unusually high inflation that has hammered consumers. And he has regularly touted measures to lower drug costs, including provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to allow Medicare to negotiate over certain drug prices.
“Big pharma doesn’t want this to happen. So they’re suing us to block us from negotiating lower prices so they can pad their profits while hardworking Americans foot the bill. But we’re going to see this through,” Biden said. “We’re going to keep standing up to big pharma, and we’ll also stand up to MAGA Republicans who have been trying for years to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. They’ve tried 70,000 times.”
Making progress on health costs will be critical as polls show voters reluctant to credit the president on many of his initiatives.
Annual US expenditures for health care goods and services, public health activities, government administration, the net cost of health insurance, and investment related to health care reached $4.3 trillion — or $12,914 per person — in 2021. As a share of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, health spending accounted for 18.3%.
A June YouGov poll found health care was the second most important issue to voters, named by 12% of those surveyed, behind only inflation and prices at 17%.
The issue is particularly salient for older people, who turn out in high numbers. Exit polls show Biden performed better among voters 65 and older against former President Donald Trump in 2020 than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton did in 2016.
Under the proposed rule announced Friday, short-term plans would be limited to three months with a one-month renewal period, a reversal from the previous administration which allowed plans lasting as long as three years.
Companies would be required to disclose if plans charge more for preexisting conditions, and whether comprehensive coverage is actually offered. The measures must go through a rulemaking process, and will likely be finalized later this year, according to a senior administration official.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department will also jointly explore ways to protect the public from unfair medical debt.
–With assistance from Alex Tanzi and Jordan Fabian.
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