Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell  has acknowledged that changes in the Affordable Care Act are needed to improve competition, affordability and access, Health News Florida reported.

“In some rural markets and smaller markets there isn’t as much competition {as elsewhere} and we need to take steps to improve that,” Ms. Burwell said. “And for some people while the subsidies are very generous and create affordability we think there are places for more assistance and help for working families.”

Ms. Burwell says the Obama administration is working to improve competition, by, among other ways,  considering creating a public option that would see the government directly enter the insurance marketplace created by the ACA.

“The public option is a way that we can, in places where there is not competition, make sure that people have choice and options and I think we think that’s an approach,” she said. “We welcome the opportunity to have the conversation about … the best ways to create additional competition.”

She added that  larger subsidies for working families and more and better explanations  of the benefits of health insurance to young people would help.

“Many of them {young adults} think about it in terms of just the premiums but people need to think through the issues of the benefits they get in terms of preventative care that’s free and also the kinds of things that people want to do in terms of health and nutrition and taking care of themselves and getting access to those services,” she said.

To read the Health News Florida piece, please hit this link.