The ACA: Where do the presidential candidates stand?
With healthcare on the docket as a key domestic policy issue this election; here is where the front-runners stand on the ACA.
Ben Carson
The M.D. of the presidential hopefuls, Ben Carson advocates repealing the ACA and replacing it with health empowerment accounts (HEAs) to be given to all U.S. citizens along with their social security numbers. Citizens would contribute to their HEAs tax-free and would be able to use the accounts to pay for medical expenses for themselves and their family members. The money is theirs, whether they change jobs or move across state lines, and would be paired with high-deductible health plans for catastrophic medical costs.
Hillary Clinton
Clinton is a proponent of the Affordable Care Act, albeit with a few tweaks that she says would reduce consumers’ out-of-pocket and prescription drug costs. For instance, she proposes having Medicare administrators negotiate with drug companies for lower prices for beneficiaries, requiring health insurers to cap out-of-pocket drug spending at $250 per month, and mandating that all plans (including employer-sponsored) provide individuals with three sick visits per year before needing to meet their deductible.
Ted Cruz
Cruz wants to repeal the ACA and cut the link between health insurance and employment. He also wants to expand health savings accounts and allow insurers to sell plans across state lines. But he has kept mum on what he would do to maintain the ACA’s coverage expansion, if he were to abolish the law.
John Kasich
Kasich wants to repeal the ACA, though he expanded Medicaid in Ohio under the law as governor, and he has said that he supports coverage for pre-existing conditions. He thinks there needs to be more of an emphasis on patient-centered primary care, and he criticizes the fee-for-service system. He wants to reward value instead of volume.
Marco Rubio
Rubio would like to repeal the ACA and replace it with a refundable tax credit to help people purchase health insurance, which would increase each year with a gradual reduction in the tax exclusion for employer health plans. He would also establish high-risk pools funded by the federal government to cover those with pre-existing conditions, allow insurers to sell plans across state lines, and expand HSAs to pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance.
Bernie Sanders
A supporter of universal health care, Sanders thinks the ACA didn’t go far enough, creating an interesting rift in the Democratic Party. Sanders wants to expand Medicare to create a “Medicare-for-all” single-payer national health insurance. This tax-supported single-payer system would entail no premiums, deductibles or cost-sharing, and private health insurance would only exist to provide supplemental coverage. Until then, he supports the expansion and improvement of Medicaid for low-income families.
Donald Trump
Trump opposes both the ACA and the idea of a single-payer system. He says he would repeal the ACA and allow consumers to buy plans from insurers in any state, no matter where they live, and he supports the use of HSAs to pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance.
