Overcoming polarization to make progress
Plus: The real cost of New York’s All Electric Buildings Act; fulfilling the promise of the Individuals with Disabilities Act; and how to move the U.S. toward lower-cost, higher-quality health care
Overcoming polarization to make progress: As we look ahead to 2026, FREOPP is optimistic. It’s undeniable that polarization has widened the gap between policy analysis and real-world impact, leaving too many systems large, slow, and disconnected from the people they are meant to serve. But we have the talent, the tools, and the policies to make a difference on issues that matter most to Americans in need of opportunity. As FREOPP Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Aly Rau Brodsky wrote recently at FREOPP.org, policy only succeeds when it translates into measurable improvements in people’s lives. In the new year, FREOPP is renewing our focus on implementation: partnering with states, prioritizing feasible reforms, and developing practical tools that move ideas from paper to practice. We hope you will join us in shaping debates around shared values and delivering solutions that advance upward mobility, human dignity, and opportunity.
New Yorkers cannot afford the All Electric Buildings Act: New York’s affordability crisis—marked by rents rising faster than wages, soaring utility bills, and nearly one million residents leaving since 2020—is being worsened by counterproductive regulations. FREOPP Visiting Fellow Grant Dever argues in The Hill that the All Electric Buildings Act, which bans natural gas hookups in new construction starting in 2026, would raise building costs, strain an already overburdened electric grid, and further slow housing development without meaningfully reducing emissions. With housing supply barely growing over the past decade, these mandates risk deepening scarcity that disproportionately harms lower-income renters and young residents. Lawmakers should delay or repeal the policy and prioritize cost-of-living relief and housing supply growth, pursuing climate goals in ways that support affordability, economic growth, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
Fifty years later, it’s time to fulfill the original promise of IDEA: Since it was enacted in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has dramatically expanded access to education for students with disabilities but has failed to deliver on its original promise, largely because Congress never fully funded it. As a result, families—especially low- and middle-income ones—often face limited or mismatched options, while wealthier parents can privately supplement or exit the system. FREOPP Senior Fellow Dan Lips contends that the current debate wrongly frames school choice and disability protections as opposing goals. Instead, Congress should fully fund IDEA while pairing it with portable, student-centered funding mechanisms—such as education savings accounts (ESAs)—to give families real choices without sacrificing rights or accountability.
What Sweden can teach the United States about low-cost, high-quality health care: FREOPP Co-founder and Chairman Avik Roy recently published a new paper making the case that America’s uniquely high health care costs stem not from overuse, malpractice, or insufficient government involvement, but from a single structural flaw: the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance, which suppresses wages, blunts consumer price sensitivity, and entrenches employers as inefficient middlemen. Drawing on international evidence—especially Switzerland’s system of universal, individually purchased insurance—he shows that competitive private markets can deliver lower costs, better prevention, and stronger fiscal sustainability than the U.S. status quo. Avik’s key recommendations for how to get there? Fix Affordable Care Act design flaws, reduce Medicaid churn, adopt Swiss-style tools like reinsurance and longer-term contracts, and modernize Medicare payment rules to unlock innovation, rather than simply spending more within a broken system.
→ Avik’s paper is adapted from his testimony delivered to the U.S. Congress’s Joint Economic Committee on December 17, 2025. Check it out on YouTube.
Thanks for keeping up with FREOPP—have a great weekend and a Happy New Year!
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