NAIFA submitted comments July 31 to Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) in response to a request by the lawmakers for information on potential legislation to develop a public health insurance option. NAIFA shares the goal of expanding access to affordable and quality healthcare to all Americans. NAIFA firmly believes in the integrity of the employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) system and ability of employers to select coverage options that fit the unique needs of their employees. 

NAIFA believes that a public option entails serious drawbacks. Whether the program is designed as another plan to be offered in the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace, as an expansion of Medicare that allows buy-ins from individuals younger than the current eligibility age of 65, or as a “Medicare-for-all” plan, the implementation of this policy could result in detrimental effects on Americans’ finances and destabilize the health care markets.

NAIFA is opposed to the creation of a public option, expansion of Medicare eligibility to younger Americans, and other similar government interventions in the offering of health coverage. Such programs would, counterintuitively, result in increased financial burdens on Americans and the disruption of the employer-sponsored system which has been crucial in providing Americans with innovative and robust health coverage and benefits.