We have seen these last few weeks a few sell-side notes floating around prognosticating on the fate of President Biden's health care agenda. Opinions appear to range from "absolutely nothing" will happen legislatively to "expansion of ACA and public option via reconciliation" will add a few basis points to GDP. The reality of a 50-50 Senate, a slim majority in the House, and a pending ACA challenge at SCOTUS, makes the future a bit more nuanced, not to say very difficult.
I am pleased to be joined yesterday by Chris Jacobs of Juniper Research Group. Chris is both knowledgeable about the procedures that define these possibilities and the laws themselves. Chris's experience on the Republican side of the aisle also offers important insight into how the minority - just barely - will position itself on health policy. You can watch replay here:
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Timestamps: 0:00 - 2:00: Introductions 2:00 - 11:03: Senate power sharing agreement and what it means to legislative activity and future of the filibuster 11:03 - 26:30: COVID Relief/Stimulus package: reconciliation or not; state and local aid 26:30 - 28:43: Other health priorities; Biden's interest; drug prices 28:43 - 33:00: Medicare solvency; risk of reimbursement reductions to Part A providers; PAC reform; 33:00 - 38:17: Probability of lowering Medicare eligibility; public option via reconciliation or otherwise 38:18 - 40:49: Possibilities for premium tax credit expansion; COBRA; Hyde amendment concerns 40:49 - 42:22: Biden plan to break down firewall between employer and exchange coverage 42:22 - 49:00: Does Biden administration go big or go fast on COVID relief/stimulus with crisis fading? 49:01 - 54:01: State and local aid and female employment Q & A 54:01 - 57:34: FDA's CDB guidance withdrawal; future of MORE and SAFE Acts 57:34 - 1:01 Speaker Pelosi's balancing act in the 117th Congress |
About Chris Jacobs: Chris Jacobs, the Founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group and author of The Case Against Single Payer, has over a decade of experience in a variety of policy roles on and off Capitol Hill. He previously worked as Policy Director for America Next, a start-up think tank, and as a Senior Policy Analyst for the Heritage Foundation and the Joint Economic Committee’s Senate Republican staff. Before that, Chris worked as a Policy Advisor for the House Republican Conference under then-Chairman Mike Pence during the debate surrounding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and as a Health Policy Analyst for the Senate Republican Policy Committee during the first two years of the law’s implementation. He got his start on Capitol Hill as an intern for then-Congressman Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
While serving as Policy Director for America Next, Chris contributed to the Wall Street Journal‘s Think Tank policy blog. He has taught part-time on health policy at The American University, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and History Phi Beta Kappa.
Emily Evans
Managing Director – Health Policy
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