Executive Summary
In comments submitted to the offices of Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. and Senate Patty Murray, NHeLP provided input on potential congressional proposals to adopt a public health insurance option as a way to improve access to care and affordability in the individual market. In these comments, we highlight the need to ensure that protections for current Medicaid enrollees are maintained at all times, particularly when considering public option proposals that use Mediaid as the starting point. In addition, we discuss the need to provide a comprehensive set of benefits, inclding abortion services, to public option enrollees, as well as the need to make coverage affordable and use the public option as a tool towards achieving health equity.
