It’ll Take More Than a Band-Aid to Fix Medicaid
By Regina Herzlinger and Richard Boxer
Feb. 5, 2017 6:12 pm ET
One of the most fraught questions in Donald Trump’s Washington is how Republicans will reform health care. No aspect of the debate over ObamaCare presents as much risk, or opportunity, as what to do with the law’s expansion of Medicaid, which gave government health insurance to millions of Americans. It won’t be easy, but President Trump and Congress have an opportunity to control Medicaid costs, improve the health of enrollees—and also win bipartisan support.
Republicans should combine two ideas popular in their party: block grants and health savings accounts. The former would let states tailor their Medicaid policies to their local communities, while the latter would give enrollees the ability to choose their own insurers and providers. In essence, Washington could give the states Medicaid block grants, allocated per capita, to provide beneficiaries with high-deductible insurance and health savings accounts.