Florida Hospital Association Head, Former Medicaid Opponent, Now Lobbies for ACA subsidies
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a striking reversal, Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of teh Florida Hospital Association, is leading a coalition urging Congress to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, despite years spent opposing the law’s Medicaid expansion. The Florida Conservatives for Affordable Care coalition, comprised of business groups, argues the subsidies are crucial for small businesses and employee health coverage.
mayhew,who previously worked for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and in the Trump administration’s Medicaid office,onc argued against federal involvement in subsidizing private insurance. Though, she now contends the market has changed, making it “incredibly difficult for a small business to purchase health insurance coverage for their employees” without the federal program.”It really does come down to, if not this, then what?” Mayhew stated.
The ACA marketplaces, launched in 2014, have halved the number of uninsured Americans, providing coverage flexibility for businesses utilizing part-time and seasonal workers, and also guaranteed coverage for entrepreneurs, early retirees, and young adults, often with income-based subsidies.
According to Leighton Ku,director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the George Washington university Milken Institute School of Public Health,the ACA’s design-allowing private plan purchases-was intended to appeal to conservatives. Mayhew is now urging Congress to move beyond “the polarizing politics of the Affordable Care Act” and recognize the improved access to health insurance benefiting small businesses. “You can’t simply be ‘no’ to everything,” she said. “This is working.”
