Health Policy Issues & 2016 Election

Focusing specifically on health care, the Urban Institute’s Robert D. Reischauer and Brookings Senior Fellow Alice M. Rivlin write that there are three main health care issues the candidates should focus on. First, on the Affordable Care Act, the GOP must have a detailed plan to “replace” the ACA if they repeal it, while Democrats should go beyond ACA defense and a technical corrections bill to focus on some alternative to the IPAB, possible elimination of the employer mandate, and a restructuring of the Cadillac tax, as well as other modifications. Second, while health care spending has recently moderated, that is expected to end soon; thus both parties must focus on ways to slow down its growth. Third, because Medicare has no legal authority to run a deficit and thus would have to cut spending, the candidates need to take action now to shore up its Trust Fund, which Reischauer and Rivlin say will be difficult since “even more than Social Security, [Medicare] is the third rail of American politics.”