Will the Election Impact Health Plans?
John Gallagher
Employee Benefits Consultant - Helping business leaders transform employee benefits from a financial risk to a strategic advantage.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to read this. HR is managing a heavier workload than ever before and the pressure is on to be an expert in every discipline in the workforce. I hope to equip you with some tools to manage with confidence what I believe to be HR's #1 priority - Employee Benefits. Each week I will give you..
The election seems to be all consuming right now. You can't go far without seeing yard signs, hearing adds or bumping in to a conversation about the issues and candidates. Unfortunately as we get closer to election day the rhetoric becomes more and more negative. That's what I really loathe about election time. I get it, the marketing machines behind these candidates are playing to human emotions and instincts to get the results they are looking for. I think it's unfortunate though, as it takes away a lot of the opportunity for people to come together and discuss the issues that really matter. I could be just getting older but I feel like civil discourse has become much less civil in recent years..
I digress..
I've been thinking about "the issues" a lot lately and have read a bit and researched a bit on the issues impacting health plans. This may not be something you're focused on in relation to the candidates but we don't have to look far back in to history to see the impact that an election can have on the healthcare industry. Remember the ACA (Obamacare)?
This is not a political post, I'm simply laying out the issues that have been discussed by both candidates that could have an impact on Health Plans. The only editorial I will offer is that neither candidate is focused enough on the U.S. Healthcare system nor are they about to rescue it.
2024 Presidential Election Issues That Could Impact Employee Benefits and Health Plans
There are several issues that have been discussed by both candidates that could have long-range implications on Health Plans
However, overall it's been surprising the minimal coverage and focus that healthcare has received leading up to the election.
?ACA Changes
Trump attempted to repeal the ACA while in office and while that did not succeed, his administration did make significant changes to the original plan. During campaigning, Trump has not talked about trying to repeal the ACA again but he has suggested he would create a plan with "much better health care."
Trump has discussed ceasing or reducing subsidies to individual premiums, set to expire at the end of 2025.
Trump has also discussed allowing states to relax the rules around pre-existing conditions set by the ACA.
Harris has vowed to support the ACA and further it's reach. Most notably, Harris has committed to extending individual premium subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of 2025.
Price Transparency
The Trump administration both campaigned on and implemented a number of price transparency regulations in 2019. The price transparency for hospitals and transparency of coverage rules took a step toward forcing the hands of hospital systems to list accurate estimates of the cost of healthcare services. While the implementation of these rules and compliance has been slow and painful, we have seen some progress.
Trump has not talked much about price transparency during the 2024 campaign other than his staff claiming he would enact policies "similarly aimed at promoting price transparency".
Harris vowed to expand the Trump era No surprises Act.
Prescription Drug Prices
Harris was the tying vote that brought about the Inflation Reduction Act where a primary focus of hers was on affordable insulin ($35) for Medicare recipients and a maximum of $2000 annually per Medicare member for prescription drugs. Harris has stated that if elected she will look to expand both the affordable insulin and maximum pharmacy amount for the rest of Americans.
The Biden Administration shook up the pharmaceutical industry recently when they secured the right for Medicare to negotiate the price on some of the most expensive prescription drugs. Surprisingly little has been said by either party about repealing or expanding this approach.
Trump previously took on Big Pharma in his previous campaigns but has not spoken much to the subject in the 2024 campaign.
Both Trump and Harris have supported efforts to import prescription drugs as a method to control costs for Americans.
Medicare/ Medicaid Changes
Harris campaigned in 2020 on a platform that included "Medicare for All." When asked about that approach during the 2024 campaign, Harris has shifted to supporting approaches that would expand the use and eligibility of Medicare she has stated that she will not be pushing for a single payer government health insurance.
Trump has stated that he will "always protect Medicare" but has mostly stayed away from the topic. He has mentioned "capping" federal funding to Medicaid.
Other
Harris has mentioned that she would work to eliminate medical debt by incentivizing hospitals who wipe out patient debt.
Again, overall it's pretty disappointing that as big as these issues are they have not garnered much attention in the 2024 election season.
领英推荐
Here's your homework assignment:
Some content I found useful this week-
Watching
The Yankees get beat!
?Listening
?Broken Benefits: Transforming Healthcare: How Visionary CHROs Can Reshape the Industry with Kevin Cox (Former CHRO of GE) and Lee Lewis This is a great chat on the importance of HR leading the charge of Employee Benefits within their organizations.
?Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/broken-benefits/id1663509940?i=1000674714570
?The Daily Stoic with Ryan Holiday and Sharon McMahon: How We Can All Be Change-Makers Sharon is known as “America’s Government Teacher,” and after years as a high school government teacher, Sharon now runs the non-partisan, fact-based Instagram account @sharonsaysso. Sharon just released her book, The Small and the Mighty, where she proves that the most remarkable Americans are often ordinary people who didn’t make it into the textbooks. This is also a really cool listen running up to election day on civic responsibility and courage.
?Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-stoic/id1430315931?i=1000674341207
Events (Hope I'll see you there!)
11/14 - Solon Chamber of Commerce HR Roundtable Meeting
11/20 - MFG Works Nuts & Bolts Bash
11/21 - Human Resources Leadership Group In-Person Meeting 8am at Corporate College East. Presentation on "The Sixth Level: An Evolved Model of Leadership.
If you haven't gone to an HRLG meeting message me and you can attend as my guest. It is always time well spent.
Webinars
11/14 11am - You’re working from where?!?—Multi-state employment law considerations. Our employment attorneys will identify the myriad of potential compliance considerations employers face whenever they have employees in other states.
Register now: https://bit.ly/3BMNwap
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY CONTACTS WHO ARE LOOKING FOR THEIR NEXT ROLE - LET'S GET THEM PLACED!
A couple of my contacts started new roles recently so that was great news to hear and hopefully a sign of a change in the market for HR roles!
Brittany Dean - Looking for TA and HR leadership roles in NEO or remote.
Scott Schroeder - Looking for Talent MNGMTt/ Talent Acquisition Manager, HR Manager/ TA Role (Summit/ Stark County Roles)
Bethany (Sumpter) Goedecke - Looking for HR leadership roles (NEO)
Tracy Smeejkal - Looking for full time HR roles and/ or consulting work (NEO)
Enjoying "Preferment”: A stage of life in which focus shifts toward activities, causes, and relationships based on joy, purpose, meaning and impact. (Board Chair, Project White Butterfly & Founder, Q3 Talent Solutions)
3 周Good call-outs, John! As you frame, disappointing that more has not been seen/heard about these items amid the 3rd grade playground style name calling and finger pointing . . . and, as you said, "but I digress" . . . YEP, good to see the Yankees collapse ;) Next up in the "Fun to Watch" category, our 5-0 Cavs!!