Easy and Affordable

Bidencare does not exist yet. The plan is still coming together. But here are the top four facts you need to know about Bidencare in advance of the eventual reveal. 

#1: The plan will create a public option that will look and feel a lot like Medicare. The public option will be available either for free or at a drastically reduced cost for anyone who:

• Lives in one of the 14 states where the "Medicaid coverage gap" still exists
• Anyone household living below 138% of the federal poverty level with children in public school, receiving SNAP benefits, or the like

Anyone who wants to buy into the public option and lives at 138% of the federal poverty level or above may choose to do so. It is unclear yet whether the cost of the public option will be on a sliding scale with income, or whether it will be a flat rate charge to enroll. For anybody who does not want to buy into the public option, they can choose to stick with the healthcare they currently have - whether that's a Marketplace plan, a plan through their employer, or an alternate qualifying health plan of their choice. 

At this point, it is uncertain whether the individual mandate will make a comeback and/or non-qualifying health plan providers (i.e. short-term health insurance companies) will be prohibited from doing business - although both of these scenarios are possible.

#2: The plan will take steps to make healthcare less confusing and more accessible in addition to creating a Medicare-like public option. Those steps include:

• Eliminating the 400% income cap for tax credit eligibility and offering more substantial tax credits 
• Ending "surprise billing" 
• Utilizing antitrust laws to break up oligarchies in the healthcare system, thus creating competition and driving down prices for consumers 
• Working with low-wage healthcare workers (like home care workers) to improve the quality of care they give and help make sure they get paid what they're worth 

#3: The cost of prescription drugs will go down. The Biden plan will mitigate the cost of prescription drugs so that Americans don't have to go without potentially life-saving medications. And it plans to do so in the following ways:

• Allowing Medicare to negotiate better prescription drug prices by eliminating the law which prohibits them from doing so 
• Eliminating "launch prices" (i.e. price-gouging) for drugs that don't have competition 
• Limiting drug prices to inflation for brand, biotech, and excessively overpriced generic drugs 
• Allowing consumers to purchase prescription drugs from other countries 
• Ending the tax break pharmaceutical companies get for advertising 
• Boosting generic drug supplies

#4: Bidencare will address human rights violationsthat have been inherent in the American healthcare system for many years. The plan will take specific aim at:

• Women's Healthcare - Roe v Wade will be codified into law as a constitutional right, TRAP laws which are designed to make abortion difficult or impossible to get will be repealed where possible, efforts will be made to reduce the ridiculously high US infant/maternity mortality rates (especially among people of color), and federal funding for Planned Parenthood will be restored
• Mental Health Care - parity laws that allow insurance companies to price gouge or limit access to mental health care will be eliminated, and mental health care will be treated with the same level of importance and urgency as any other form of healthcare 
• The Global Gag Rule - also known as the "Mexico City Policy", the Global Gag Rule will be repealed under the Biden Administration so that international organizations who receive federal funding for health services rendered overseas will not have their funding revoked for helping people learn about or obtain abortion services