Two Democrats have introduced a bill that would allow businesses and Obamacare customers to buy into Medicare.
The bill, the Choose Medicare Act, is a type of “public option” that would be sold alongside the option to buy private health insurance. It would be known as “Medicare Part E.”
“This is a public option, for sure,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said at a press conference presenting the bill. “President Obama never had a detailed public option strategy he advocated for, but this is broader than that.”
The proposal offers Medicare plans not only to individuals who don’t get coverage through a job, but to employers. Medicare covers adults 65 and older as well as people with disabilities. Under the Choose Medicare Act, the same benefits would be offered, but the government would be allowed to negotiate drug prices.
The bill also would make government subsidies potentially more generous than Obamacare. It would allow people who make up to 600 percent of the federal poverty level to receive subsidies that lower the cost of premiums to them. Obamacare cuts off the subsidy aid at 400 percent of the federal poverty level, or roughly $48,240 a year for an individual.
“We have faith that over time consumers can migrate to the choice that’s best for them,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., adding that he believed many would choose Medicare rather than buy private plans. Offering Medicare, he said, would prompt private health insurers to offer more competitive prices.
The bill has no Republican sponsors and 10 Democratic co-sponsors, including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
A public option was debated when the Senate was crafting Obamacare, but was scrapped in the Finance Committee.
“There was unfinished business when we passed the Affordable Care Act,” Murphy said, referring to the formal name for Obamacare. “Many of us believed that the exchanges would work much more efficiently with the public option.”
He and Merkley framed their bill as one of several proposals Democrats were bringing to the table as they head into the midterm elections. Murphy said it was necessary for Democrats not only to combat actions by the Trump administration that they say resulted in weakening Obamacare, but also to bring forward their own ideas to make the healthcare system stronger.
“I think we’re going to have to do some very hard, quick work to try to restore affordability to a system that the president is trying to destroy,” Murphy said, referring to the possibility of Democrats winning a majority in both the House and Senate.
The Trump administration has sought to make changes to the law and cut off certain payments, contributing to rising premiums. The prices were rising before Trump took office partly because fewer people than anticipated bought Obamacare plans, and the pool of people who purchased them was sicker, and therefore more costly, than predicted.
Other Democrats, including Merkley, have backed a different proposal called the Medicare for All Act, which would bring every U.S. citizen onto the Medicare program regardless of whether someone has employer coverage or is on Medicaid, the program that covers low-income people, pregnant women and people with disabilities. Senators have framed the Choose Medicare Act as a possible, more incremental step headed in that direction.
The Congressional Budget Office has not scored the bill to see how much it would cost the federal government, how much enrollees could expect to pay for their premiums, or whether the provision would reduce the number of people who are uninsured. Murphy said he expected the provision to be less costly than Obamacare because its premium tax credits would cover health insurance that costs less.
“Everyone in this country should have the ability to buy a Medicare plan,” he said. “There is no reason for only people above 65 to have access to Medicare.”
