Brookings July 16, 2019
Federal healthcare reform, whatever form it finally takes, is once again an irresistible political force. But when an irresistible political force meets an immovable administrative object, bet on the object.
If you probe the healthcare stuff on presidential and congressional candidate websites, peruse partisan talking points and fund-raising letters, and parse actual or pending policy proposals, you find that each and every plan now in rhetorical or legislative play for reforming the federal role in healthcare lays claim to the same trinity of healthcare reform goals: access, affordability, and quality. To be sure, some plans are more motivated and focused on increasing coverage (access) relative to containing costs (affordability), but the disagreements nonetheless center on how best to achieve greater...