Milken Institute School of Public Health Professor Sara Rosenbaum is only too aware that the status of U.S. healthcare policy is currently a fast-moving target. But the observations she made on the history of healthcare policy in the Health Policy and Management department’s inaugural Health Policy Expert Series lecture, now available on YouTube, include almost everything needed to understand how we got to where we are now.
Dr. Rosenbaum is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on federal health legislation in the areas of public and private health insurance coverage and programs affecting health care access and quality for low-income and medically underserved Americans. Her talk focuses on the policy underpinnings of the U.S. health insurance system and the key structural reforms made by the Affordable Care Act of 2010 in terms of the accessibility, affordability, and scope of coverage.
In addition to going over some issues discussed in classes on comparative health policy, Dr. Rosenbaum reviews what are expected to be the emerging elements of “repeal” and “replace” in the context of ACA Titles I and II, the public and private health insurance reforms. This includes her expert opinions regarding how the ACA could be improved.
The many aspects of the history of U.S. healthcare policy and the current debate elucidated in the video include:
- Why our country takes a different approach to healthcare policy than other wealthy nations.
- How insurance companies work and a little about the industry’s operating principles.
- Why even states such as New York and Washington may be too small to effectively pool risk.
- Why experts have long understand that national reforms are needed to produce a stable individual health insurance market and a stable small group market.
Watch Dr. Rosenbaum’s lecture, “The ACA in the 115th Congress: Starting the Repeal and Replace Discussion” for all this and much more.