Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance
Theo Merkel testified in a hearing titled Lower Health Care Costs for Americans: Understanding the Benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Watch the full testimony here.
Thank you, Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Crapo for calling this hearing and giving me the opportunity to testify.
The August 2022 reconciliation bill (a.k.a. the “Inflation Reduction Act,” or IRA) made significant changes to health care law, and it sought to address several legitimate flaws within American health care. Unfortunately, to do so the law embraced superficial fixes.
This has resulted in an expensive Affordable Care Act (ACA) sugar high, induced a likely illegal taxpayer bailout of Medicare Part D plans, and will undermine the quality and value of health care in the long run.
My testimony will cover what I see as the underlying issues, discuss why the approaches adopted in the IRA fail to address them, and propose alternatives that would enhance the quality, value, and sustainability of the American health care system.
Click here to read the full testimony.
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Theo Merkel is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a senior research fellow at Paragon Health Institute.
Photo Credit: U.S. Senate Photographic Services
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