Democrats need to come out with a detailed proposal of Obamacare fixes early next week, ideally Monday in order to strike while the iron is at its hottest. It needs to be detailed and specific (ready for review in the relevant committees) so the American people have tangible proof Democrats are serious about addressing concerns about Obamacare. If Republicans refuse to cooperate, it will just further damage their brand.
My list of proposed fixes would be:
1. A true not-for-profit public option to provide competition in every state. This could easily be structured as a simple buy-in to Medicare.
2. Require insurance carriers to offer plans in every county of a state in which they operate. This will avoid insurance carriers cherry-picking the parts of a state they feel offers the most profitable customers.
3. Allow states to create their own risk corridors to attract more insurers to their states
4. Income restrictions (only available to people earning less than $XX,000 on being able to stay on parents' plan until age 26 so more young people are paying into the risk pools.
5. Increase the individual mandate penalty to make it equal to the cost of the 2nd-cheapest Silver plan available in their respective market,