Hillary Clinton outlines proposals to tackle out-of-pocket healthcare costs

Hillary Clinton is outlining her aggressive new proposals to tackle the rising out-of-pocket medical costs American families are facing.

The Kaiser Foundation released a survey on Tuesday that found the average deductible for covered workers this year has grown nearly seven times faster than workers’ wages since 2010. Clinton’s plan centers on lowering deductibles and copays so Americans can see rising take-home pay, while enacting critical protections for consumers against unfair premium hikes and other abuses.

The announcement comes a day after she unveiled her plan to lower the too-high cost of prescription drugs for Americans, especially seniors.

“When Americans get sick, high costs shouldn’t prevent them from getting better,” Clinton said. “With deductibles rising so much faster than incomes, we must act to reduce the out-of-pocket costs families face. My plan would take a number of steps to ease the burden of medical expenses and protect health care consumers.”

To ensure lower out-of-pocket costs for working Americans, Clinton’s plan would build on the Affordable Care Act and require plans to provide three sick visits without counting toward deductibles every year. In addition, her plan would provide a new, progressive refundable tax credit of up to $5,000 per family for high out-of-pocket health care costs.

Clinton would fight back against excessive premium hikes by insurance companies by strengthening authority to block or modify unreasonable health insurance rate increases and vigorously enforcing antitrust laws to scrutinize health insurance mergers and ensure they do not harm consumers.

Clinton would also guarantee transparency and enforce new consumer protections to help Americans save money and avoid surprise health bills. Her plan protects Americans from unexpected medical bills by expanding disclosure requirements and new cost-sharing protections, while enforcing and broadening the Affordable Care Act’s transparency provisions. The plan seeks to continue progress made under the Affordable Care Act to reduce costs by building on delivery system reforms and encouraging health innovation and entrepreneurship.

For a fact sheet detailing Clinton’s full plan for tackling out-of-pocket medical costs, click here.