Opposing Harris, Trump push on ObamaCare scant on details

Health Care

The Big Story

Harris, Trump and the future of the ACA

Both presidential tickets have indicated ways in which they’d change the Affordable Care Act if they win, though details are scant less than two weeks before Election Day.

Vice President Harris has said she wants to grow the ACA, such as by making the law’s temporary enhanced subsidies permanent.

The subsidies expire in 2025, and congressional Democrats have already introduced bicameral bills to extend them permanently, but it’s likely something they won’t be able to achieve unless they control all three branches of government.

Apart from cementing enhanced subsidies, the Harris campaign hasn’t shared much in specifics on how else she would specifically strengthen the law.

And there remains a lingering question of how these subsidies would be funded. The Congressional Budget Office projected it would cost $335 billion over the next 10 years if the subsidies were kept.

Former President Trump started his campaign with renewed calls to repeal and replace the ACA, commonly called ObamaCare, but those aims seem to have been abandoned as of now.

Trump acknowledged in his ABC News debate against Harris that he doesn’t currently have a plan to replace ObamaCare if it were repealed, only “concepts of a plan.”

His running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has offered some details regarding how a second Trump administration would change the insurance market.

Vance has said Trump’s health plan would focus on deregulating the insurance markets to promote choice and “not have a one-size-fits-all approach” of putting everyone into the same insurance risk pool, seemingly echoing the strategy championed by Republicans in 2017 seeking to replace ObamaCare.

Critics contend allowing states to put sick people into separate pools could undermine the insurance marketplace and effectively end the law’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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