A Biden presidency and a closely divided Senate means that nothing big is likely to happen in health care for at least the next two years.
- For all the time Democrats spent debating Medicare for All, competing public insurance options and sweeping federal controls over drug prices, the near-term future for health policy will likely be about gridlock and incrementalism.
Biden ran as a moderate in the Democratic primary field, but the policies he's endorsed — like a public option, lowering the Medicare eligibility age and expanding Affordable Care Act subsidies — would be non-starters in a Republican-controlled Senate and incredibly hard to pass even if Democrats eke out a majority.
The catch: A Supreme Court ruling invalidating all or much of the ACA could force Congress to act on big-ticket items like restoring protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
