Efforts to reform healthcare have been ongoing for decades, but the epochal shift to affordable and accessible health coverage is not yet complete. Even in wealthy countries, healthcare systems are still struggling to control costs, keep pace with technology and deliver consistently high-quality care. Achieving these goals will require more work and innovation, including well-designed evaluation of any new system or improvement. Linear cause-and-effect logic (reform X will realize benefit Y) rarely holds, but careful measurement can depoliticize reform efforts and help them move from policy idea to implemented improvement.
ASCLS supports laws and policies that increase the number of insured Americans and make insurance affordable for all families. ASCLS also supports expanding Medicaid, ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality health care that covers in-person and telehealth visits.
Health reform should include a robust public plan that competes with private insurers. This plan should be linked to Medicare initially, so that it can quickly establish a presence in the marketplace. It should be designed to ensure that it remains affordable over time, and that its benefits and funding are transparent.
The ACA should provide more accountability to the healthcare system by setting commonsense rules of the road that limit healthcare spending and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. It should eliminate health insurance discrimination against tens of millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions and set up a competitive marketplace for health insurance exchanges that allow tens of millions of small businesses and families to choose the coverage that is right for them.