Biden Proposes New Massive Grants for Obamacare, Public Option in Health Care Plan

The former vice president unveiled his health care plan Monday morning in the middle of a growing battle with his 2020 Democratic presidential opponents, while some more liberal candidates advocated the inclusion of all Americans to a national health plan, virtually eliminating private health insurance.

He said that in his plan, if you "like your employer insurance, you have to keep it". Under the plans of other prominent Democrats, he said: "You lose it, end point".

Biden's plan would launch a "public option" which, according to his campaign, would be "similar to Medicare", primary care being covered without a share.

His plan suggests some important details about how it would work, including how it would be administered and the rates of pay for doctors and hospitals – which plays a crucial role in determining which health care providers would accept enrolled patients in the program. public option. But he promises to reduce medical costs by negotiating lower rates with providers.

The public option would cover women's contraception and abortion, Biden officials said. Obamacare currently covers contraception free of charge. Abortion services are currently excluded from the 10 essential health benefits that insurers must cover. Insurers may offer coverage against abortion provided they meet the requirement to segregate federal funds.

Biden would also hire nearly 5 million Americans who would have been eligible for Medicaid if the program had been extended to Obamacare – but resided in states that had refused – according to the free public option.

And it would take a series of measures to reduce the cost of insurance on Obamacare scholarships by providing federal grants to everyone, regardless of their income.

At present, only those who earn less than 400% of the federal poverty line – or about $ 100,000 a year for a family of four – are eligible for assistance to pay their premiums. Biden would raise this ceiling.

In addition, people enrolled in an Obamacare plan should not pay more than 8.5% of their income – instead of the current 9.86% – in premiums. A family of four earning $ 110,000 a year would save about $ 750 a month in premiums, the campaign said.

And it would base these subsidies on the cost of "gold plans", which involve higher premiums but lower deductibles, rather than less generous "money plans". This means that people could spend less money – or use larger grants to buy cheaper packages in silver or bronze. This measure would help answer a major criticism of Obamacare, namely that his franchises are too high. The average deductible for a person registered under Obamacare in a "gold plan" is slightly less than 1,600 dollars in 2019, while for a "money plan", it amounts to just over 4,000 dollars, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Biden's campaign characterized the proposal as a return to what Obama had originally asked for in 2009, when he had unsuccessfully lobbied Congress, led by the Democrats, to include an option. in the law.

"We are starting with the Affordable Care Act as a base and will focus on the things we were looking for last time – and we will have them this time," said a senior Biden campaigner.

Biden's plan also aims to reduce prescription drug prices, including allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers. In addition, prices of newly launched and uncompetitive drugs would be subject to review by an independent panel established by the Department of Health Services and Services. and, in some cases, would recommend reasonable prices based on the average price charged in other countries. People would also be allowed to import prescription drugs from other countries, and drug manufacturers would face tax penalties in the event of an increase in the price of brand-name, generic or biotech drugs in excess of the drug rate. 'inflation.

Biden's proposal would cost $ 750 billion over 10 years, his campaign announced. He proposes to pay the bill by raising the income tax of the wealthiest Americans to 39.6% – reversing part of the 2017 Congress-led Republican-led tax reduction bill that lowered that rate – and demanding those who earn more than a million dollars a year. year to pay 39.6% capital gains taxes, instead of the current 20%. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government will spend approximately $ 58 billion in 2019 on grants related to the Affordable Care Act.

Biden's plan does not include any contingencies that could arise if federal courts currently considering a legal challenge to Obamacare cancel the law, in part or in whole.

"We are moving forward with the hope that this will continue to be (confirmed), and it will continue to fight to continue this momentum," said a senior campaigner.