COVID-19 will strain US health provision and budgets

Significance

High and rising case numbers have strained public and private health systems. Medicaid, which caters to low-income families and will experience surging demand as job losses rise, is in particular distress, mainly because states co-fund and administer it. The strains are propelling healthcare reform as an electoral issue.

Impacts

• Biden is unlikely to endorse ‘Medicare for all’ but will push his public health insurance option.
• The Republicans will struggle to elucidate a clear alternative to the Affordable Care Act before November.
• COVID-19 will fuel calls for Medicaid expansion, including in smaller conservative states.