Most of the real action on health reform is likely to happen in the regulatory space over the next two years, and the Trump administration can build on the opportunities it already has created with a regulatory fix that would increase access to health insurance for working families.
We submitted a comment letter on Friday recommending a change to the administration’s proposed rule that adds flexibility to Health Reimbursement Arrangements. We recommend the administration also allow funds from one spouse to be used to buy into group health coverage offered by the employer of the other working spouse.
About one-fourth of employees offered health insurance at work do not participate, generally because of cost. This change would increase uptake by allowing spouses to use funds deposited into an HRA account by one employer to obtain a family insurance policy offered by the other spouse’s employer.
