Convergence's
Reaching bipartisan agreement on short–term efforts to shore up the nation’s healthcare system.
The Vision
Members of the Roundtable believed critical matters relating to health reform needed to be addressed quickly and – importantly – bipartisan approaches were possible. While roundtable members held diverse political views and policy outlooks, they believed health reform solutions exist that can transcend partisanship and ideology.
The Problem
At the time of the Roundtable, the Congressional effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) had stalled, sparking urgent questions about what’s next and whether a bipartisan agreement could be achieved to address important U.S. health reform needs.
Between 2010 and 2016, the number of non-elderly uninsured adults decreased by 41 percent.
HHS
Overall, nearly 20 million more people had coverage in 2016 than before the ACA was passed.
KFF
By 2013, the year before the major coverage provisions of the ACA went into effect, more than 44 million people lacked coverage.
KFF
Under the ACA, millions of people have gained health coverage, and the uninsured rate dropped to a historic low in 2016.
KFF
Convergence Dialogue Consensus Blueprint
These five health policy matters were designed to be addressed by the end of the federal fiscal year, September 30, 2017. These recommendations are designed to provide stability in markets until a longer-term resolution can be achieved and, most importantly, to protect coverage and health care access for those relying on them now.
Extend federal funding through 2019 for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
This extension will ensure affordable coverage for children, including children in low income working families that cannot afford the cost of their own employers’ family plans. Members also support extending funding for community health centers through 2019.
Ensure There Are Enough Caregivers
Near-term, high-priority actions are needed to address economic insecurity among paid caregivers, workforce shortages, burnout and exhaustion, and turnover. In parallel, longer-term actions are needed to broaden the “pipeline” of caregivers and create a true caregiving profession with ladders of advancement.
Implementation of effective measures to stabilize the federal and state health insurance exchanges/marketplaces for individual health insurance.
Millions of people rely on subsidies created through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for their health coverage. The cost sharing reduction subsidies should be funded through congressional appropriation to assure that lower-middle income policyholders will have access to insurance and can afford their coverage. Congress needs to reassess the ACA’s insurance market stabilization mechanism. The federal government should continue enrollment programs designed to inform people about the benefits that are available to them and to aid their enrollment in such benefits.
Congress should seek smart and effective tools to incentivize all Americans to sign up for health insurance.
In a country as large and diverse as the U.S., and for a health system as technically complex as ours, broad outcomes, goals and values must be set at the national level, but there must be wide flexibility at the state level on how to achieve those objectives.
Greater flexibility to respond to the desire of state governments for broader freedom in program innovation, provided appropriate guardrails.
Members support enhanced financing flexibility for states that seek to increase access to affordable coverage for their low and moderate-income populations. Members encourage Congress to consult with states and others on how to refine the guardrails to provide enhanced flexibility. More financing flexibility could better enable states to achieve innovations that promote continuity, health care efficiency, and coverage innovation.
Judicious expansion of health savings accounts (HSAs) use by consumers and employer.
This includes using HSA funds for premium payments and reforms that make pre-funded HSAs available to lower income people who choose to enroll in high deductible health plans for which a linked HSA is essential — as a trust-building step across the partisan divide.
Project Outcomes
Finding Common Ground in Health Care
As members of the Roundtable, Ron Pollack and Grace-Marie Turner appeared on C-SPAN to discuss finding common ground on health care through a bi-partisan lens.
Testimonials
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In the News
Bipartisan Health Policy Coalition Urges Congress To Strengthen The ACA
“An unlikely coalition of liberal and conservative health-policy leaders is calling on Congress to strengthen the existing health-care law in a variety of ways to help Americans get and keep insurance. In particular, the group is urging the government to continue paying all the federal subsidies provided under the Affordable Care Act and to help Americans enroll in coverage.”
Health-Reform Principles That Can Cross Party Lines
Convergence’s Health Reform Roundtable published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on their views on health reform. A subscription is required to read the full article “Health-Reform Principles That Can Cross Party Lines.
Top Democratic, Republican Health Experts Agree On This Plan To Fix Obamacare
“A prominent and unlikely group of liberal and conservative health experts have authored an ambitious plan to fix the Affordable Care Act — and they plan to make a hard push for their ideas on Capitol Hill. The plan is notable because it has the support of especially well-connected health advisers on both sides of the aisle.”
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