Partisan feuds surrounding the ACA have largely left out conversations about the large medical bills families and individuals face, according to Politico.
Multiple recent polls have revealed that healthcare costs are the leading concern among American voters. Still, many political conversations about healthcare have revolved around protecting individuals with preexisting conditions and how to make health insurance more affordable, according to the report.
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chair Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has tapped healthcare professionals and think tanks in an attempt to shift the ACA's debate toward cost. In a December 2018 letter, Mr. Alexander wrote, "The hard truth is that we will never get the cost of health insurance down until we get the cost of healthcare down."
As Democrats aim to improve the ACA with more subsidies and cost-shifting to taxpayers, and as Republicans create lower-cost alternatives to the 2010 health law, Politico says, "Neither approach gets at the underlying problem — reducing costs for both ordinary people and the healthcare burden on the overall U.S. economy."