Stimulus Package For Healthcare System 'Won't Be Enough,' Says Jonathan Gruber

President Trump Signs Coronavirus Stimulus Bill In The Oval Office — Vice President Mike Pence speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a bill signing ceremony for H.R. 748, the CARES Act in the Oval Office of the White House on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Earlier on Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the $2 trillion stimulus bill that lawmakers hope will battle the the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

April 08, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

President Trump signed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package into law in March, with $100 billion of the funds going towards healthcare. MIT economist Jonathan Gruber spoke with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday about whether the $100 billion dedicated to the country's healthcare system will be enough.

"No, it won't be enough," he said. "The best estimates of the net costs of the coronavirus to our healthcare system are between $100 billion and $500 billion, so clearly $100 billion is at the very very low end and unlikely to be enough."

Jonathan Gruber is Ford Professor of Economics at MIT. He was instrumental in creating both the Massachusetts health-care reform and the Affordable Care Act. His latest book is "Jump-Starting America How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream."