A hot button topic every election cycle is healthcare, and both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have different visions of what it will look like under their administration.
On the latest episode of Capitol Gains, former governor of Vermont Howard Dean joins Yahoo Finance’s Rachelle Akuffo, Washington Correspondent Ben Werschkul, and senior columnist Rick Newman to discuss healthcare in the United States, and the potential issues the next president will face as the new leader of the nation.
Governor Dean chalks it up to two main issues: Congress and healthcare’s impact on the economy. Dean says he does not think Congress will “touch healthcare in a serious way.”
Regarding economic impact Dean explains, “Healthcare is 20% of the economy of the largest economy in the world… Now that 20% of our economy is tied up in healthcare, every possible interest group works against the other interest group to make sure they can preserve their share.”
Though the election will not be determined solely by Vice President Harris’s or former President Donald Trump’s policies on healthcare, there are still ways to address it that appeals more to voters. “You can be sympathetic to people struggling with healthcare costs because it’s really killing a lot of families, “Dean says. “I think the Democrats really have the advantage in general on healthcare.”
To learn more, listen to Governor Dean’s thoughts in the full episode of Capitol Gains here.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch more Capitol Gains.
This post was written by Lauren Pokedoff.
Video Transcript
Governor P A policy question for you.
You mentioned health care in your first answer.
I’m curious, kind of how you’re thinking about that for next year either in either in either scenario of who wins.
What’s the sort of major issue in 2025 for the next president?
Is it these Obamacare subsidies, these enhanced subsidies?
And what would that look like if those expire or?
I don’t think, I don’t think Congress is going to touch health care in a serious way.
The, the problem with health care is, is 20% of the economy of the largest economy in the world.
Uh and the incentives are upside down.
Uh You get incentivized in health care to spend as much as you possibly can, which has been very successful for the last 50 years in order to fix that, you basically have to go to capitated care 100% of the time.
Uh You can, you can’t continue with fee for service.
It’s a, it’s a complete loser.
And now that 20% of our economy is tied up in health care, every possible interest group works against the other interest group to make sure they can preserve their share.
What I’ve suggested in Vermont is that our big teaching hospital, start its own insurance company all of a sudden, then the incentives get flipped upside down and you get, uh, you get, make money by not doing all kinds of expensive things to people.
And it’s, it’s much more complicated than that, but I do not think that you can win an election based on health care, explaining the policy.
I do think you can be sympathetic to people struggling with health care costs because it’s really killing a lot of families.
And I think the Democrats have the advantage in general on health care.
