Reevaluating the Affordable Care Act with The Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield — Health Policy Podcast

Published April 7, 2026 · Featuring Nathan Benefield of The Commonwealth Foundation

Nathan Benefield of The Commonwealth Foundation discusses the Affordable Care Act's impact on healthcare costs and the need for reform in a recent Health Policy

Nathan Benefield, Chief Policy Officer at The Commonwealth Foundation, discusses the Affordable Care Act, healthcare costs, healthcare reform, and patient advocacy in the latest episode of the Health Policy Podcast. Benefield critiques the ACA's effectiveness in controlling costs and emphasizes the need for reevaluation of current healthcare policies.

WASHINGTON — May 25, 2026 — Nathan Benefield, Chief Policy Officer at The Commonwealth Foundation, joined the Health Policy Podcast to discuss the Affordable Care Act and its impact on healthcare costs and reform. The episode addresses the ongoing challenges families face regarding rising healthcare expenses and the need for patient advocacy in the current system.

Benefield highlighted that the Affordable Care Act has not succeeded in lowering healthcare costs as promised. "The reality is, it didn't do that. Families are still seeing dramatic cost increases," he said. He pointed out that the design of the ACA, which includes numerous mandates and subsidies, has created perverse incentives that limit competition. "There are a number of what we call perverse incentives that... limit the competition," he added.

The discussion also touched on the quality of coverage provided by Medicaid. Benefield noted that "putting people on Medicaid... is one of the lower quality forms of health coverage." He emphasized the importance of reevaluating healthcare policies and suggested that lawmakers should acknowledge the shortcomings of the ACA. "They should go back and say, 'Hey, what we created has not been working. We need a different approach,'" he stated.

The Commonwealth Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based free market think tank that advocates for policies promoting individual freedom, personal responsibility, and limited government.

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The Health Policy Podcast focuses on discussions surrounding energy, infrastructure, policy, and economic growth, providing insights into the complexities of health policy and its implications for society.

About The Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Foundation is a Pennsylvania-based free-market think tank that researches and advocates for policies related to economic freedom, healthcare reform, education choice, labor policy, and limited government.

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About the Guest

Nathan Benefield — Chief Policy Officer

Nathan (Nate) Benefield is the Chief Policy Officer at the Commonwealth Foundation. An Ohio native, Nate holds an undergraduate degree in political science and economics and a master’s degree in public service management from DePaul University in Chicago. He also completed his doctoral studies (ABD) in political science at Loyola University, also in Chicago. Nate joined the Commonwealth Foundation in 2005. Now as Chief Policy Officer , he provides strategic leadership as well as operational oversight spanning policy analysis, government relations, marketing, and communications. Nate has researched and written extensively on public policy issues including the state budget, public sector labor reform, government spending and taxes, liquor privatization, education, and economic development. Under Nate’s policy leadership, the Commonwealth Foundation’s work on public sector pension law helped drive the bipartisan pension reform of 2017, heralded by the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post as an example for other states to follow. Nate has testified numerous times before state legislative committees and is often called upon by legislators and members of the media to provide expertise. He is a frequent commentator on both television and radio, and his writings have appeared across the state and nationally in outlets including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Patriot-News, and Weekly Standard. Nate’s favorite rock song and personal motto are both “Don’t Stop Believin.”

About the Health Policy Podcast

The Health Policy Podcast hosts conversations on energy, infrastructure, policy and economic growth — interviewing the operators, regulators, and innovators powering America's grid, gas, nuclear, and industrial future. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.