AFP, Washington :
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday waded into the US health care debate, urging the Trump administration to “protect” gains achieved under President Barack Obama.
As the US Senate continues the heated debate over repealing the Affordable Care Act implemented under Trump’s predecessor, the IMF released its annual report on the US economy and warned of potential damage threatened by the proposed replacement.
“Health care policies should protect those gains in coverage that have been achieved since the financial crisis (particularly for those at the lower end of the income distribution),” the IMF staff said in its Article IV report.
Maintaining those gains will help the US economy by increasing productivity and labor force participation, they said.
“This, in turn, will strengthen growth and job creation, reduce economic insecurity associated with the lack of health coverage, and have positive effects for the medium-term fiscal position,” the report said.
The changes currently up for debate would either lead to a loss of coverage or the need for increased federal subsidies to sustain the same level of coverage.
The report said such reforms would also cause “a significant increase in costs for older and poorer individuals whereas the embedded tax relief would be mostly incident on higher income households.”
While the IMF recognized the “polarized societal views over the appropriate way forward”-which makes reaching an agreement difficult-it urged caution in the design of a healthcare reform.
“Such changes ought to be undertaken carefully” and should avoid “excluding those with limited incomes from the healthcare system,” they said.
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday waded into the US health care debate, urging the Trump administration to “protect” gains achieved under President Barack Obama.
As the US Senate continues the heated debate over repealing the Affordable Care Act implemented under Trump’s predecessor, the IMF released its annual report on the US economy and warned of potential damage threatened by the proposed replacement.
“Health care policies should protect those gains in coverage that have been achieved since the financial crisis (particularly for those at the lower end of the income distribution),” the IMF staff said in its Article IV report.
Maintaining those gains will help the US economy by increasing productivity and labor force participation, they said.
“This, in turn, will strengthen growth and job creation, reduce economic insecurity associated with the lack of health coverage, and have positive effects for the medium-term fiscal position,” the report said.
The changes currently up for debate would either lead to a loss of coverage or the need for increased federal subsidies to sustain the same level of coverage.
The report said such reforms would also cause “a significant increase in costs for older and poorer individuals whereas the embedded tax relief would be mostly incident on higher income households.”
While the IMF recognized the “polarized societal views over the appropriate way forward”-which makes reaching an agreement difficult-it urged caution in the design of a healthcare reform.
“Such changes ought to be undertaken carefully” and should avoid “excluding those with limited incomes from the healthcare system,” they said.
