1. Tort Reform

In order to protect against medical malpractice lawsuits, health care providers purchase malpractice insurance which has the effect of increasing the cost of health care and may also limit the availability of health care services. Following CBO, we propose a cap to awards for non-economic damages at $250,000 and cap punitive awards either at $500,000 or twice the amount of non-economic damages, whichever is greater. The option would produce a little over $20 billion in savings over 10 years. In addition to reductions in federal spending, CBO estimates the option would reduce health care costs generally by about 1%, which would produce savings to the Federal government, state governments, companies, and individuals.

2. Reinstate FCC’s Spectrum Auction Authority

The radio spectrum is what allows mobile phones, Wi-Fi, and other wireless devices to operate. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) controls the use of that spectrum and began allocating it through auctions in the early 1990s. These auctions have generated $230 billion in revenue to the Federal government, not from raising anyone’s taxes or cutting spending on a program. Instead, companies have eagerly bid for the rights to use the spectrum. More importantly, spectrum is a huge economic multiplier which is a critical component to fiscal sustainability.

The auctioning of this spectrum resulted in it being allocated to the most valuable use and in turn generated huge private sector investments in telecommunications infrastructure and jobs. In short, this spectrum has been critical to the digital economy while making an enormous contribution to the U.S. economy. A 2022 economic analysis estimated that in the past decade alone, wireless network operators invested $265 billion in wireless infrastructure, cutting the cost of mobile to date by 98% and increasing the volume of mobile data by 50 times. They estimate the wireless industry was responsible for $825 billion in GDP and nearly 4.5 million jobs in the U.S. economy in one year (2020).

The FCC’s authority to auction spectrum expired on March 9, 2023. We propose reinstating that auction authority for three years. The proposal would devote the estimated $13.6 billion in net proceeds from these auctions to debt reduction.