Health Care Costs Too Much, and Prices Are the Problem

When people talk about affordability this election cycle, most of the time they are talking about gas prices, groceries, and rent. But right behind those issues is one of the potentially biggest-ticket items, depending on how serious a person’s situation is: healthcare.

The average family plan offered by employers is around $28,303 a year. The average worker pays an average of $7,471 of it, which is an increase of about 9 percent over the last year. Over that same period of time, wages only grew 3.7 percent and inflation rose 2.7 percent — the latter figure spiking in recent months rather than over the course of the full year, unlike wages.

We have given Washington, D.C. ample time, opportunity, and representatives to figure this stuff out. The only things they seem to have time for, however, are speeches and promises, neither of which actually get the job done before our providers’ invoices come in.

Voters Want Prices They Can See and Costs They Can Carry

A recent survey of 1,000 registered voters, conducted online August 17 and 18, found 91 percent agree with the following statement: “Health care costs too much. Families shouldn’t have to choose between paying medical bills and paying for their groceries.” 

On top of that, 69 percent said healthcare is very important to how they will vote for Congress.

Of all the possible reforms out there, the policies conservatives tend to propose are popular among voters. Plans to take on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug costs come in at 90 percent. Transparency in pricing at hospitals comes in at 87 percent. What’s more, 86 percent back expanding tax-free savings accounts, and that same percentage backs more competition and less consolidation as a means of lowering costs and reducing premiums

Premiums in particular are a problem. Insurers are proposing a median 2027 premium increase of 15 percent, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of 276 insurers. It’s lower than last year’s, but it’s still the second-highest since 2018. However, insurers point to the price of treatment. Insurers in 16 states, as well as the District of Columbia, said rising healthcare costs are the primary driver. KFF also lists general inflation, labor shortages, and other factors (the end of the ACA subsidies has had an effect, for example). 

The Solution? Make the Price Visible, Then Make It Lower

Price transparency has always been one of the most viable solutions, and Republicans have been pushing for those for years. For example, CMS scheduled enforcement of the 2026 hospital price requirements to begin April 1, and hospitals that fall short can receive warning notices, face corrective action plans, or pay civil monetary penalties. 

That accountability is a big part of fixing the problem. Posted prices at hospitals only help if there is someone to compare them and enforce the rules. Voters deserve a public count of the hospitals that have been penalized and the hospitals that have remained consistent in the practice.

On top of that, the federal government has to do a better job of enforcing the 340B Drug Pricing Program to help rural Americans. Congress created the program in 1992 to improve access to care for low-income and uninsured patients, and covered entities buy outpatient drugs at deep discounts. But, Democrats (and some Republicans) have routinely stood by as Big Pharma has rejected the rules and brazenly flouted the program.

Studies cited by policy analysts say the revenue helps hospitals subsidize uncompensated care, and defenders of the program have a fair point. But covered entities are not required to pass the discounted price on to patients, and it is unclear how much revenue they receive or how they use it. Annual reporting of what comes in and what reaches patients would apply the principle voters already endorsed for hospital prices.

To the immense credit of President Donald Trump, the White House’s January framework on drug prices would formalize reductions by tying prices to the lowest price paid by other countries. But, that same report said TrumpRx.gov had no drugs listed on announcement day, and a White House official could not name any lawmakers working on the plan. 

A framework lowers no one’s prescription bill until Congress writes it into law.

You can (fairly) blame both sides for inaction on these and other policies like healthcare savings accounts. After all, accountability runs in both directions. Republicans hold both chambers, and voters will want to know which of these ideas Congress has actually voted on or will act on. Democrats who answer rising premiums with an extension of subsidies owe voters an explanation of why prices keep climbing despite the government’s “help.”

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