Timothy Jost, writing for the Commonwealth Fund, proposes six steps that he says that Congress should take immediately to address the most pressing health-insurance problems, before trying to make  broader, systemic changes in America’s fragmented healthcare “system”.

They are:

“First, it must focus on the individual market, where we face an immediate crisis.”

“Second, we need solutions that can be implemented immediately through existing programs.”

“{T}hird, we may need to accept short-term increases in federal spending to get us through the immediate difficulties, as we have when our country has faced other crises. … But in the short term, simply shifting the burdens to individuals who will lose insurance coverage or face much higher deductibles and premiums is not acceptable.”

“Fourth, Congress should reinstitute the ACA’s risk corridor program for 2018 and 2019 for any county with fewer than two insurers.”

“Fifth, Congress should leave the individual mandate in place until it can devise a credible replacement. ”

“Sixth, Congress should rework the premium tax credit formula for 2018 through 2020 to allow younger enrollees to claim more generous tax credits.”

To read Mr. Jost’s essay,  please hit this link.