How the 2024 Elections Could Reshape State-Level Health Care Policies
TL/DR –
The 2024 presidential election has the potential to reshape healthcare at the state level significantly. Trump’s past health care policies focused on patient control and state-level structural options for Medicaid programs, with achievements including the expansion of short-term limited health insurance plans and an executive order clarifying hospital price transparency. Contrarily, Harris’s policies lean towards improved and extended ACA marketplace subsidies, expanded Medicare coverage for home health care, and federal negotiation of drug prices, along with support for eliminating medical debt.
How the 2024 Election Could Affect U.S. Health Care Policies
The upcoming 2024 election could considerably impact U.S. health care policies, with President Trump and Vice President Harris presenting differing approaches. The election outcome will primarily affect health care at the state level.
Trump’s first term was marked by significant health care reforms. He expanded short-term limited duration health insurance plans, association health plans, and health reimbursement arrangements. Trump’s executive order on hospital price transparency, part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was a substantial bipartisan achievement.
If reelected, Trump is likely to continue empowering patients with more control and options. He will probably reinstate his policies on short-term health insurance plans reversed by Biden. Trump also backed Section 1332 State Innovation Waivers for Medicaid, allowing states to tailor Medicaid programs to their needs. These waivers were rescinded under Biden, but Trump may reintroduce them.
Conversely, Harris advocates for increased ACA marketplace subsidies through the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. She seeks to fix the “family glitch” that affected dependents of people with “unaffordable” employer-based family coverage. Despite her previous support for Medicare-For-All, Harris now focuses on expanding access to ACA marketplace plans and enlarging Medicare coverage for home health care.
Following the repeal of the non-interference clause in Medicare Part D, the federal government started negotiating medication prices with pharmaceutical companies. A Harris administration would likely expand these negotiations. Harris also supports medical debt elimination, which could significantly impact rural hospitals.
Aligned with their ideologies, Trump promotes greater state and individual power, while Harris favors stronger federal requirements and more standardized coverage options. Health care, a crucial issue for voters, will undoubtedly influence their decision this November.
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