Biden pitches new subsidies, public option in health care plan

Former Vice President Joe Biden unveiled his 2020 White House campaign’s health care plan on Monday, with a goal of protecting and building on ObamaCare by adding a public option. 

Unlike several of his Democratic primary opponents, Biden does not support eliminating private insurance or a “Medicare for All” plan. His plan is also not a pathway to a Medicare for All system, as other White House hopefuls have proposed. 

{mosads}“I understand the appeal of Medicare for All, but folks supporting it should be clear that it means getting rid of ObamaCare, and I’m not for that,” Biden said in a video announcing his plan. 

“I know how hard it is to get that passed. I watched it. Starting over makes no sense to me at all,” he added, 

Under Biden’s plan, Americans would have the option to purchase a public health insurance option, like Medicare. 

His plan would also increase the value of tax credits to lower premiums, aimed at benefiting middle-class families.

Today, families between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line may receive a tax credit to reduce how much they pay for insurance. Biden’s plan would eliminate the 400 percent income cap to lower costs for working-class families. 

Biden’s plan also seeks to expand coverage to low-income Americans in 14 states that have blocked the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. The plan would offer premium-free access to the public option for those eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in those states. 

The plan would also automatically enroll individuals making below 138 percent of the federal poverty line through interacting with public schools and other low-income programs, such as SNAP.  

Biden’s health care plan also includes proposals to reduce the costs of prescription drugs. His plan would repeal the law that bars Medicare from negotiating lower prices with drug corporations. 

His plan would limit launch prices for drugs that face no competition, limit price increases over the general inflation rate, and allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from other countries. 

Biden’s plan also would end pharmaceutical corporations’ tax break for advertisement spending.