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Title: Rand Paul's Obamacare repeal plan gets there — Paul Ryan's doesn't
Source:
Washington Examiner
URL Source: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/r ... ticle/2616393?custom_click=rss
Published: Mar 4, 2017
Author: Adam Brandon
Post Date: 2017-03-04 03:39:48 by Hondo68
Keywords: Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, House Freedom Caucus, Obamacare Replacement Act
Views: 5455
Comments: 22
Republican leadership's plans for the Obamacare repeal were recently leaked, though "repeal" is perhaps too strong a word. "Tweaks" more accurately describes the work of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and other House Republicans. It does not go back to ground zero, where this disaster began. Instead, the plan is to go for "Obamacare Lite." It's simply a different version of Obamacare — a Republican version of Obamacare. It's how President Obama himself might have done it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said, "The best interest of the country would be achieved by pulling out Obamacare, root and branch." More recently, Ryan reiterated that the House plans to repeal Obamacare, adding that "you can't" repair "a collapsing law." Ryan has also said that repeal of Obamacare is entitlement reform. Like Obamacare, the plan has an individual mandate through fines for those who don't keep continuous coverage. Like Obamacare, it has a Cadillac tax, which will eventually impact most insurance plans. Most egregiously, however, the bill would create a new entitlement through refundable tax credits. Republicans appear to be "reforming" an entitlement by "replacing" it with ... another entitlement. This is not repeal. It's tinkering around the edges, and it's failing to keep campaign promises. A truly conservative agenda for repealing Obamacare is getting rid of it — all of it — and going back to 2009 to enact various improvements to the insurance market. We can address regulations that increase costs by returning regulation of the health insurance industry to the states. Why should the federal government not negotiate Medicare Part D benefits to lower prices? Why can't health savings accounts be used to buy health insurance? Conservative grassroots activists stand 100 percent behind the efforts of Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and members of the House Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a patient-centered alternative. Specifically, we endorse the Obamacare Replacement Act, introduced by Paul and Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C. This bill provides a complete reworking of our healthcare system, focusing on real patient-centered alternatives. It starts by repealing every word of Obamacare and its regulations. It also legalizes affordable health insurance coverage, expands the use of HSAs to include buying health insurance, and equalizes the tax treatment for insurance so that individuals receive the same tax deduction that employers receive to help pay for coverage. Additionally, the bill allows organizations and non-profits to band together and negotiate lower prices for health plans in a group market. It gives patients with pre-existing conditions a two-year open enrollment period under which they can obtain coverage. Lastly, the Paul-Sanford plan repeals Medicaid expansion. Two-thirds of people who received Medicaid coverage after Obamacare were already eligible for it prior to expansion. The bill allows states to apply for waivers to set up Medicaid programs that best fit their needs. All these steps will increase choices, increase ways to pay, and increase portability, the lack of which exacerbates the problem of pre-existing conditions. Above all, it lets individuals have the freedom to buy coverage that suits them, not the dictates of bureaucrats in Washington. However, even if this legislation passes, it is not the end of the story. There is still more work to do to make the market work more efficiently and provide genuinely affordable healthcare. Block grants for Medicaid, state innovation grants, and federally-funded high-risk pools — there are plenty of conservative ways to restore control of healthcare to the patient, if Republicans have the boldness to seize the opportunity. At the very least, however, they must rework the current plan. It doesn't get us back to square one. It takes the rare chance to deliver on campaign promises made for the better part of a decade and it squanders them. Given a chance like this, Americans deserve a better plan than this. It's up to Republicans to give it to them — and soon. Poster Comment: Voters rejected RomneyRyanCare in 2012. Primary Paul Ryan out of the Senate. He needs to be repealed and replaced! 
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#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
"Paul Ryan out of the Senate."
House. Thanks to Mittens on the job training, Ryan can look forward to an exciting career in the submarine sandwich biz.
#16. To: hondo68 (#2)
Two wrongs don't make a right….your parents proved that, not this picture.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestPoster Comment:
Primary Paul Ryan out of the Senate. ??????????
#2. To: Gatlin (#1)
(Edited)
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