Organization

University of Wisconsin-Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison Office of the Chancellor 163 Bascom Hall 500 Lincoln Drive Madison, WI 53706

Founded in 1848, the University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public land-grant university and major research institution in Madison, Wisconsin. Its mission combines education, research, and public service, guided by the Wisconsin Idea—the principle that the university’s work should improve lives beyond the classroom and benefit communities throughout Wisconsin and around the world

Coverage areas

Guests (1)

Tony LoSasso
Professor

Episodes (1)

2026-10-13
Navigating the ACA: Why Silver Plans Now Cost More Than Gold
with Tony LoSasso
In the latest episode of the Health Policy Podcast, host Bryan Hyde speaks with Tony LoSasso, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the rising costs of silver health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). LoSasso explains how misaligned incentives and policy design have led to silver plans costing more than gold plans in many ACA marketplaces, a situation that has resulted in inflated premiums and disrupted enrollment. He proposes restructuring premium tax credits and funding cost-sharing subsidies to stabilize the market and reduce costs for consumers.

Notable quotes

“I like to think about it as trade-offs and how individuals make decisions under constraints and uncertainty, which is, of course, a big feature of healthcare utilization.”
“This is not a fraud thing. This is not a— there's not really even a quote unquote bad guy in this. It really is just about misaligned incentives and sort of bad policy design.”
“What happens then is that you get an inflated silver premium. And so, okay, what happens next? Well, along with that inflated silver premium comes an inflated premium tax credit.”
“If you do that, if you fund the subsidies outside of this shoehorning it into the premium, the CBO and others have calculated that you actually save money.”
“I think it skews individuals' behavior. It skews insurers' behavior. And it prevents a robust competitive market for insurance.”
“Link it to medical CPI, link it to CPI, something like that. And then now let the insurers compete, force the insurers to compete on price more directly.”