How VP Kamala Harris's Stances on Healthcare Could Impact Benefits Brokers

Brokers have been reading up on Biden and Trump’s healthcare policies, but the waters are murky once again with Biden’s recent withdrawal from the 2024 election. Read on to learn how Kamala Harris's endorsement and potential presidency could reshape the healthcare landscape.

Key Differences Between Biden and Harris’s Healthcare Stances

There are 3 notable differences between Biden’s and Harris’s Healthcare stances:

1. Approach to Universal Coverage: Biden's approach focuses on enhancing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and introducing a public option. In contrast, Harris supports a Medicare for All hybrid model, which combines public and private insurance options.
2. Reproductive Rights Focus: Harris emphasizes access to abortion services more prominently than Biden, making it a central component of her healthcare agenda.
3. Health Equity Initiatives: Harris highlights health equity and addressing systemic disparities in healthcare, especially for marginalized communities. Biden also addresses these issues but with different legislative approaches.

Harris also focuses on addressing gender and racial wage gaps, noting that lower wages affect both current financial stability and future retirement benefits.

What Impact Might Harris’s Healthcare Stances Have On Benefits Brokers?

Harris’s healthcare positions could have several implications for benefits brokers, who help navigate and advise on healthcare options. Here’s how her ideas could impact the field:

1. Expansion of ACA and Public Options:

• Increased Complexity: As both Biden and Harris aim to expand the ACA, brokers will need to stay informed about changes to ACA marketplaces and coverage options. This may require additional training to assist clients effectively. Additionally, brokers working with ALEs must pay careful attention to any changes in affordability thresholds and MEC.
• New Plan Offerings: Brokers may encounter more public options and expanded ACA plans, necessitating a thorough understanding to provide suitable advice.

2. Medicare Expansion and Hybrid Models:

• Adapting to New Eligibility: Harris’s support for a Medicare for All hybrid could introduce new opportunities and challenges. Brokers may need to help clients navigate impacts on employer-sponsored plans and retiree benefits. For more information on Harris’s Medicare plans, check out her article in Medium.
• Considering on the Impact on Private Insurance Companies: Harris writes that the Medicare for All plan “will allow private insurers to offer Medicare plans as a part of this system that adhere to strict Medicare requirements on costs and benefits.” Brokers should watch for changes in insurance products, pricing, and market competition, and be ready to advise clients on these updates. 

3. Prescription Drug Pricing Reforms:

• Negotiation and Cost Management: Both Biden and Harris support efforts to lower drug prices. Brokers should stay informed about new regulations and assist clients with drug benefit management.
• Plan Design Adjustments: Brokers may need to adjust plan designs to align with new drug pricing rules and implement cost-control measures.
  
  

4. Focus on Health Equity:

• Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives: Harris’s focus on health equity might lead to new requirements for diversity in benefits offerings. Brokers could help design benefits addressing these needs, such as culturally competent care.
• Compliance and Reporting: Brokers may need to assist clients with meeting new compliance standards related to health equity and reporting on health disparities.

5. Mental Health Integration:

• Expanded Mental Health Benefits: Harris’s emphasis on integrating mental health services into primary care could lead brokers to help clients enhance their mental health offerings, including coverage for behavioral health services and telehealth options.
• Training and Resources: Brokers might need to provide additional resources and training to support effective mental health programs.

6. Reproductive Health and Legal Considerations:

• Navigating New Regulations: With Harris’s stance on reproductive rights, brokers should stay updated on changes in reproductive health coverage and related legal requirements. Fertility and reproductive benefits have grown steadily more popular as medical innovation lowers costs for operations and therapies that were previously cost-prohibitive. Remain competitive by watching closely as SMBs take interest in similar benefits.
• Policy Impact on Benefits Design: Brokers may need to assist employers in designing benefits that comply with evolving reproductive health policies.

Additional Resources: 

• Brokers’ Corner Podcast—watch and subscribe to the Brokers’ Corner podcast, which dives into the topics that affect your agency and industry and identifies strategies so you can protect and grow your book of business 

• BerniePortal Brokers’ Council—a council of benefits brokers from across the country that advises BerniePortal on industry concerns, trends, and the ways technology can best support their agency and employer groups 

• BerniePortal for Brokers—leveraging technology to increase your agency valuation and support your employer groups is easier than ever with BerniePortal’s software solution, built for brokers by brokers