CED believes that long-term improvement in quality, affordability, and access requires the right balance between the roles of government and the market. This balance is best achieved through a market-driven system, based on private-sector competition and cost-conscious consumer choice.
Health care is simultaneously a deeply personal issue and a more mundanely economic one. The personal consequences are known to all of us. Economically, many households fear the financial risk of a prolonged illness or serious injury. Health care costs are the most frequent cause of personal bankruptcy. And, from a national perspective, growing health care costs have profound implications for the country’s long-term fiscal health.
Because of health care’s very central role in our personal and economic wellbeing, CED believes strongly that:
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (known informally as the ACA) was a well-intentioned attempt to deal with these issues, but in CED’s view, it has fallen short. Further reform is necessary to retain the ACA’s positive elements, while simultaneously improving upon it to build a better health care system for all Americans.
Our vision for Health Care builds on the ACA’s advances by strengthening and broadening the new law’s use of those market incentives to drive innovation for higher quality and lower cost, while maintaining an appropriate role for government to facilitate access and ensure that markets work. We believe that this truly would be the achievement of all three objectives of quality, affordability, and access that policymakers have sought for many years.
CED believes policymakers have an opportunity to transform the ACA into a system driven by market incentives that decrease costs, improve quality, and promote innovation—while increasing access to coverage. Our research also explores the best path forward for Medicare, which is projected to be the strongest cost driver in the federal budget.
CED Members play an instrumental role in forming CED research findings, policy statements and recommendations for reform. Members take an active role in raising awareness about the need for reform through local forums, op-eds, and media appearances. Our members and staff routinely briefs lawmakers about how its recommendations benefit patients, providers, and government.
CED has developed recommendations that harness market forces under both the Affordable Care Act and Medicare.
Affordable Care Act:
Medicare:
This Solutions Brief outlines recommendations to set Medicare and other Federal health programs on a more sustainable fiscal path.
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A rapidly aging population with greater utilization of health care threatens the financial sustainability.
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Both the rising cost of health care and increasing utilization of it as the population ages are driving greater health care spending.
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Infographic of three public policy recommendations for US in 2023
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Pandemic regulatory changes infographic
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Almost two years after the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the United States and the world into economic and social disruption, the nation is recovering.
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This Solutions Brief puts the budget reconciliation process into the context of the nation’s serious ongoing budget problem, and concludes that significant revision…
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