Past HHS chiefs urge Congress, Trump to focus on stabilizing ACA markets

The immediate healthcare policy goal for Republicans should be dispelling uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, according to three former secretaries of HHS.

The Associated Press spoke to former Republican HHS chiefs Tommy Thompson and Mike Leavitt and Democrat Kathleen Sebelius. They may disagree on the more long-term direction of the ACA—as evidenced by Leavitt’s interview with HealthExec at HIMSS 2017—but in the short-term, they agree stabilization is needed.

“Stabilizing the current situation can only—I think—be to their benefit,” Sebelius said, of the Trump administration. “In an environment in which (insurance) companies are enrolling customers, they've got a lot of time to actually go back to the drawing board and figure this out. The worst of all worlds for them would be to have the current situation unravel because of decisions by this administration.”

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John Gregory, Senior Writer

John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.

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