Researchers at the New School propose a new nationwide direct cash payments program that would automatically kick in when economic indicators point to a recession and phase out when the national unemployment rate begins to decline.

In the throes of the coronavirus pandemic, US policymakers came together across both sides of the aisle and provided the American people with nearly $1 trillion in direct cash payments to help them make it through the emergency. Along with the expanded Child Tax Credit, these payments dramatically reduced poverty, stabilizing families and our economy during a time of unprecedented turbulence.

For decades, Medicaid has provided virtually no-cost coverage to millions of Americans priced out of the private insurance market. Still, state legislators, policy analysts, and the popular press continue to question Medicaid’s value, particularly in relation to private coverage. Twelve states have not expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) framework despite the offer of federal funding to cover 90 percent of the costs associated with the additional enrollees.

Ten years after the passing of the Affordable Care Act—the most comprehensive health care reform of the past half-century—most of the previously uninsured continue to lack coverage. Policymakers and members of the public have expressed growing support for expanding the role of public financing of health care. The “public option” and “Medicare for All” have emerged as important contenders for health policy reform. Both policies are rooted in widening access to the lower prices of the public system to make health care more affordable for all.