The Biden-Sanders unity task force recommended Wednesday a major liberal expansion from Joe Biden’s previous healthcare platform.
As in the original Biden healthcare plan, the task force recommends a “public option” insurance plan that people can buy into but with one important difference: “The public option will provide at least one plan choice without deductibles.”
That could potentially put private insurers at a substantial disadvantage. According to eHealth, healthcare plan deductibles averaged $4,328 for a single person and $8,352 for a family on the individual market. The individual market includes plans on the Obamacare exchanges and other plans not offered through employers.
The plan recommended by the task force could prove popular among people with employer-based insurance. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average cost of a deductible in 2018 was $1,573 for an individual and $2,349 for family under employer-provided coverage.
The pressure this would put on insurers in the individual market would depend on the premium cost of the public option plan without deductibles. The average monthly premium on the individual market was $400 for a single person and $1,168 for a family, according to eHealth.
In a statement accompanying the release of the task force recommendations, Biden said, “I commend the Task Forces for their service and helping build a bold, transformative platform for our party and for our country.”
